The Adventures of Katie and Jessica
by JessiWolf
Summary: Two girls are transported into Middle-Earth. How will their presence affect the fellowship? Pairings include Boromir/OC and Legolas/OC/Haldir. A.U. Don't like? Don't read. Rated 'T' for mentions of drugs, sexual comments, cursing, and violence. (Under grammar/spelling revisions and scene editing)
1. Chapter 1

**Before you start, I would like to point out that there are two different people writing this story so there may be brief spans where updates will take a few days, it will also account for the two different writing styles. I'm sorry if this confuses you, if you have any questions feel free to message me.**

**Disclaimer:  
**I do not own LOTR!

I do however own Jessica. Katie owns herself.

Before starting I would like to point that, although my character does drugs, I **don't**. Okay? Good, glad I've made that clear.

**Chapter One**

Parties were never really my thing, fights broke out too often, and drunk men attempting to hit on my friends and I put me in a foul mood. This, however, was a Rave and people were usually in too good a mood to do too much of anything, aside from dance or comment on how soft or beautiful something was, Rolling more than likely. The Rave was being held in an old concrete building, there were two stories too it but no one was allowed on the second floor, but it still held close to 500 people in it. In those 500 people, somewhere, were my 3 cousins.

I was on vacation, or rather hell, in Kansas for a family reunion. My cousins had dragged me out here, to some party in middle-of-nowhere. I had never known my cousins were into this scene, whenever I had asked them to go to a Rave with me before they'd shrug it off and mumble something about drugs and date rape. Their opinions had obviously changed; I had thought on the drive here, when I saw them all take a pill or capsule. Thank god I had been the one driving, for all I knew one of them could have been distracted by the feel of the car's leather seats, forgotten they were driving, and killed us all.

The thought made me chuckle now as I watched the crowd dance, at times it seemed the people on the dance floor pulsed and moved as one creature. It made jumping into the center of it more inviting, so that is what I did. Within seconds I was surrounded by strangers who danced, offered Kandi, and who were performing lightshows. One of my cousins danced up to my side, she smiled broadly, grabbing my hand to exchanged Kandi bracelets, and then gestured to her mouth. It took me a few seconds to understand what she was trying to say before I realized she was asking if I wanted 'E', I smiled back at her and nodded. She leaned forward, mouth slightly open revealing the pill on her tongue, as our lips touched she quickly pushed the pill into my own mouth, which I swallowed, but as I pulled away she leaned forward to kiss me again. She had this look of wonder on her face, as if she was kissing her celebrity crush when she kissed me. Thankfully, her fiancé showed up and turned her attention back to him because having my cousin kiss me like that was just too weird. My insides shuddered and I had to suppress a gag.

Rolling had not been on my agenda tonight, luckily I was wearing a pacifier necklace but I needed to grab a Gatorade from the car. The late October air cooled my fevered and sweat glistening body as I strode towards my cousins car and popped the trunk to grab the small red bottle. It was somewhat of a relief to leave the crowded building as the drug took effect, although the music was loud the sound of the wind through the trees and wildlife could still be heard moving around. The woods were enchanting in a way, though the music pounded and began to call to my blood, so did the trees and fireflies begin to call to my heart.

The urge to act as a child, to dance amongst the trees and sing over took me. It didn't take long to lose myself in the forest, to my immense pleasure as the sound of music began to somewhat irritate me. I giggled, twirling around in circles, finger tips touching the bark of trees as I went. It was like a fairy tale, the sound of nature, the dew on the grass and leaves, and I, the strange girl dancing between the trees.

Eventually the sound of the party faded, and I lay down to gaze at the stars between the gaps in the branches. Orion was above me; I traced its pattern in the sky and smiled. This lasted for several minutes before I rolled onto my side and closed my eyes.

**Katie's P.O.V. (Short):**

I can't believe I thought backpacking in the Rockies was a great idea, especially doing it alone. I felt like I needed to give myself a break from the world and all my problems at home. I sighed, so close to my check point, just a few more ledges to go. I gripped the rocks, searching for cracks in the rocks to place my fingers.

Snow began to fall from the sky and the wind began to pick up. _Shit_. I knew that I needed to move faster otherwise I was going to be stuck in a storm still climbing rocks. Adrenaline began to course through my veins and I started to move faster, not paying attention to what I was grabbing a hold of. I went to grab a piece of rock sticking out from the mountain side and my fingers slipped. I hung from one arm off the cliff. I could see all the rocks below me and how far of a fall it was. My heart rose all the way into my throat and my vision started to blur.

_Oh my God, I'm going to die out here._ I threw my body towards the mountain trying to grab another piece of rock. My fingers dug into a small crack in the rock, and pressed my body to the mountain side trying to catch my breath. I lifted my feet up trying to climb up the mountain, losing my grip my hands slipped and I began to slide backward. My feet dragged against the surface, my hands trying to grab the rock that tore my nails and palms to raw, bleeding flesh. I finally lost all grip of the mountain and began to fall. Looking up at the sky everything began to move slowly, the snow touching my skin and slowly melting to my body's heat. Then I hit the ground, SMACK!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:  
**

I do not own LOTR!

I own Jessica. Katie owns herself.

**Chapter Two:**

**Katie's P.O.V.**

~Voices in the background talking~

Eyes slowly opening, I slowly moved my arms toward my head. Oh, how my head aches! _Something doesn't feel right, I feel…warm, not cold. My clothes are not weighing my body down either, strange_. I look around me and I'm in a room. _What the hell._ There are three men standing in the room talking, but I cannot hear them because my ears were ringing. I shift my weight and I gradually pull myself to the ceiling. I sat in the bed looking at the men who all had their backs facing me, still talking.

"This cannot be, she shouldn't have returned," said one of the men. He had long, wavy grey hair with white highlighting it. "I thought our spell we cast on her would've kept her protected, but something's brought her back."

Speaking in another language (translating in English), "It's strange Gandalf, it's almost as if destiny has brought her back home."

_Home? I don't even know who you men are!_ I cleared my throat, "What do you mean, I'm home?" _How do I know what he saying? I don't even recognize the language…_

All three men turned around, jaws dropped. The man who had, _pointed ears_? A large forehead and dark hair looked at me with deep blue eyes and said to me, "Yes, you're home."

**Jessica's P.O.V.**

There were several people, specifically men by the tone of their voices that were in the room with me. At least I assumed I was in a room by the feel of a plush mattress I was laying on and the sound of chairs scraping against…a stone floor perhaps. Two men seemed to be arguing, their gruff tones sounded as if they had been speaking through clenched teeth. It would seem that they were trying to keep their voices lowered so they wouldn't disturb me, the supposedly sleeping girl.

So much for that, I thought blinking slowly, letting my eyes adjust to the brightly lit room. The room, after taking several moments to look around, was small with a desk in the right corner closest to the door, a vanity mirror hung on the wall, and a tall wardrobe just to the left of the bed. There were three men, two standing at the foot of the bed the other sitting at the desk, they had stopped arguing and now looked deep in thought. The man sitting at the desk had shoulder length dark brown hair and scruff on his face; he was pale skinned, with gray eyes, and what appeared to be a very tall and powerful build. Odd, something tugged at the back of my mind, he looks very familiar. The other two were partially obscured from view, one with long dark hair had his back toward the bed was blocking my view of the older gray haired man.

It was the seated man that noticed I was awake, he moved quickly to my side which drew the attention of the others. "You're awake," he stated, while checking the pulse in my wrist.

The other dark haired man was now standing on the opposite side of the bed, I noticed he had tired gray eyes, a high forehead, and pointed ears…Alrighty then…The gray haired gentleman stood at the foot of the bed, he was the shorter of the two, his eyes were gray as well and his nose rather large. It was the pointy-eared fellow that spoke first, "how are you feeling?"

I sat up, taking inventory of my body which was no longer clothed in my party dress but in a large white cotton shirt that reached to my mid-thigh and hung off one shoulder, displaying several tattoos along my back, chest, and legs. Aside from the embarrassment of knowing someone had unclothed me and a slight headache, I felt fine. "The room is spinning," I replied, voice husky as it usually was after sleeping.

The pointy-eared fellow nodded at the familiar looking dark haired man, who picked up a cup of some steamy liquid off the desk and offered it to me. "Tea," he explained, "with honey, to sooth your throat."

As I took the cup and began to drink, the pointy-eared man began to talk again. "One of our Guardians found you in the woods, sleeping with clothing that barely covered you. It seems you were found just in time, without a fire to keep you warm you'd have died of hypothermia."

He paused, watching me intently as I began to drink from the cup again. When he had said 'guardian' the name Glorfinal popped to mind, but then my headache reappeared the dull throb of it making my thoughts swirl. Several things had changed in that split second of clarity; it was no longer the one man that was familiar but all three, and the name Rivendell; I knew it to be the name of the city I was in.

"You were brought here, to Rivendell, with a concussion and several bruises on your legs," the pointy-eared familiar continued, lifting the blanket that covered my legs to reveal several dark bruises which I could tell were fresh because they lacked the yellow ring of an older mark. He raised a rather bushy brow at the tattoo that swirled along the whole of my left leg, but he made no comment and let the blanket fall, "what were you doing wandering so close to Rivendell and so ill prepared for the journey?"

"Didn't know I was close to anywhere," I replied, brows furrowed in thought, "I can't remember, everything is fuzzy…I was at a party with my cousins and was Rolling. I went to the car to get a Gatorade and instead of going back I walked into the forest…"

The three men looked confused, "why were you rolling and what is gah-ter-ade?" The dark haired man asked, taking the empty glass and setting it aside.

Now it was my turn to be confused, "Gatorade is a drink…I had it with me, it was red and in a small bottle…"

The older gentleman nodded as did the pointy-eared fellow, but the younger man still looked confused, "why were you rolling, then? Seems odd, to go to a party where you roll around."

I laughed, which seemed to offend the man who pursed his lips into a thin line. "Rolling, it's a term you use when you're on drugs. I was on 'E', the skullcandy brand, which is way better than a Decepticon."

The three looked baffled but instead of asking what the hell I was talking about, the older man asked what my name was.

"Jessica," I answered, "do you need my mom's number so she can come pick me up?"

"Your mother has a number?"

"Yeah…" Alright, now I was getting worried. None of them had heard of Gatorade or seemed to understand what the concept of a 'number' meant. Also, two of them appeared to be doctors, perhaps nurses, and neither of them knew what Ecstasy was or what the term Rolling meant. "Where am I?"

"Rivendell," the older man said, his voice a gentle rumble. "You're in Middle-Earth."

"Middle-Earth…" I arched a brow, "what's so middle about Earth?"

This appeared to fluster the group, who were now looking at me as if I'd lost my mind which I guess I had. The damn drugs have finally burned a hole in my brain; the thought brought the image of Swiss cheese to mind.

"Perhaps," the older man rumbled cryptically, turning towards the Pointy-Eared male, "we should bring in the other."

The man nodded and gestured towards the younger man, who quickly left. "Lady Jessica, I am Lord Elrond," he then pointed to the gray haired man, "this is Gandalf the Gray. The man whom just left is named Aragorn."

"The King of Gondor?" _Where the hell did that come from?_

The two looked at me sharply, "how-?"

"Dunno," I shrugged, looking to the door which was now opening revealing the man, Aragorn, and a woman.

"JESSI!" She squealed, pouncing onto the bed and hugging me tightly.

"Holy Jesus tits," I yelped, gazing wide eyed at the face of my friend Katie.

"You're in Kansas?"

"You're in Colorado?"

We spoke at the same time and both shook our heads in reply. For several seconds I looked over the friend I hadn't seen in several weeks, she having left to backpack across the Rockies and I to spend time with family. Her hair, which she had dyed back to blonde, had grown down to mid-back and her once soft body had hardened, returning to the form she had as a soccer player before she'd torn her A.C.L. Katie was clothed in a long light green dress with white underlay, it wasn't anything spectacular but it complimented her eyes well. I laughed, punching her shoulder playfully.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Well," I began, holding my tanned arm to her pale one, "only you could spend weeks traveling in the sun and not tan."

She glared but her blue eyes held a glint of humor; "should've seen me last week, before the blizzard."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," she nodded, settling down beside me. "I looked like a blonde Mexican."

I looked at her skeptically, "you lost all that color in such a short amount of time?"

She pointed at herself, pulling a face that clearly said it's me we're talking about. Katie looked me up and down, "there is something different about you."

"Well, my hair is one color for once," I pointed at my now natural mahogany locks.

"No, it's not that." Her brow furrowed, "but your hair is pretty, much longer than I remember."

"Thanks," I smiled, twirling a strand between my fingers acting as a Barbie, or rather a Venus Fly Trap that lived off of compliments.

She snorted and pinched my arm, earning her a yelp of alarm and several mumbled curses and death threats. She ignored this however, having heard all of it a thousand times before. "You have something white on your face." Katie squinted, moving forward so that there was hardly an inch of space between our faces.

"Oh," I laughed, pointing to the mark just below the corner of my left eye. "I got a U.V. tattoo, it's a star."

"Whoa," she smiled goofily, "that is so cool."

For several minutes we had forgotten about the men in the room, it felt like we were sitting in my bedroom at 5 in the morning goofing around. There was no tension between the two of us, which was a real relief because we had argued the last time we'd seen each other; it stood as a testament of our friendship that we could let the past drop. It was the reuniting of friends and the relief that it brought that made Katie and I forget we had an audience, until Aragorn cleared his throat which caused the two of us to flinch in surprise.

"You know each other." Elrond said matter-of-factly. "I'm rather surprised seeing as how you're both suffering from amnesia. You two will be moved into a single room; hopefully the close proximity of someone familiar will jog your memories."

Katie and I smirked at each other; he'll soon regret placing the two of us together.

"Wait a second." Brows furrowed in confusion, and more than a little concern, I asked, "why can't we just go home?"

Elrond and Gandalf shared a look, their expressions becoming dark and seemingly troubled. The man, Aragorn, appeared just as curious about this as I was; he was holding the room's door halfway open, waiting as if for a signal from his two companions as to if he should leave or not.

It was Katie that answered my question, laying a gentle hand on my bruised legs that made me flinch back. "Jessica, we can't go home."


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter is told solely from Jessica's P.O.V.**

**Disclaimer:**

I do not own LOTR.

But I do own myself, a wide variety of Domo-kun apparel, and a 24 case of Monster Energy Drinks.

Katie owns herself.

**Chapter Three:**

Our room was simple both sides mirroring each other; there were two beds, two wardrobes, and two mirrors. The room was quite charming in its simplicity, with light streaming in from two large windows. The beds which were once carefully made up were now rumpled and the room in constant disarray no matter how many times the maids cleaned it. But what did you expect from two twenty-one year olds with amnesia and homesickness.

"Jess," Katie tossed her pillow at me, hitting its mark with a loud thump. "You have to get up."

I groaned, "Katie, you know I'm not a morning person unless there is coffee."

"They have coffee."

Turning to glare at her, I pointed a finger accusingly towards the kitchens. "They don't have French Vanilla now do they? Or Espresso." Internally I sighed, it wasn't the flavor, brand, or even the caffeine that I missed, it was the mornings that I spent with my mother drinking the coffee. _I miss my mom…_

Katie rolled her eyes, "Jess, don't you know what today is?"

"Katie," I mumbled, sitting up and running a hand through my disheveled hair. "How do you know what today is?" I reached up to tap the side of my head, "amnesia, remember?" I did however remember what she was referring to; Elrond and Gandalf had asked us to meet them after breakfast to talk about a possible way to regain our memories.

She shrugged, and got up to search her wardrobe. "How do we know anything about this place?"

I sighed, getting up to search my own wardrobe. _How indeed_, I thought to myself fingering the sleeve of a maroon dress. We had been here for close to a week, met many people, but had only regained a few of our memories. At times, it didn't even feel like a memory but more of a sense, Katie compared it to 'women's intuition'. Her comparison made more sense because we did remember everything of our pasts, but we only caught glimpses of this world. It wasn't even the past that we were 'seeing' but events that would take place anywhere from a few hours to, possibly, months away.

It's like a dream…Or a nightmare, I shuddered recalling the nightmares and visions of death. Katie was the lucky one; the things she 'remembered' often lead us to the important events of Rivendell. How we knew they were important we've no idea, but each time we followed our 'sense' or 'intuition' we were rewarded with a vision of sorts and another piece of some elaborate puzzle fell into place, and we met some interesting people.

Honestly it didn't make much sense to me, no matter how many times Elrond or Gandalf explained it I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that we had somehow appeared in this alternate dimension. Sure, people back home thought that they, alternate realities, may have existed but come on, that was all…Well, it was all a bunch of shenanigans. And I didn't even want to think about how we somehow knew Middle-Earth's future. Hell no, dealing with being told we couldn't go back home, learning that several races of mythical creatures were real, and then meeting said creatures, was enough of a headache. I didn't want to touch the whole knowing-the-future thing with a ten foot pole - not even a ten foot spear.

There was a knock at the door and a small child like man walked in. "Come on then you two, you're going to miss breakfast!"

"Give us a few minutes Pippin," Katie replied, smiling down at the hobbit. "Jess slept in again."

Yeah, sorry that I'd rather spend my time dreaming about home than being awake here.

The hobbit crossed his arms and arched a brow, "you should work on that, if you keep sleeping in you'll miss breakfast and everyone knows it's the most important meal of the day."

"What about second breakfast, Pippin?" I joked, laying the maroon dress across my bed.

His brows rose high, "that's even more important," he replied, "two times more important."

Katie and I, despite my sour mood, burst out laughing and shooed the hobbit out the door with promises of being to the dining hall soon. Grabbing our dresses, we dashed down the hall to the bathing rooms where we quickly washed our skin, used the local equivalent of mouthwash, and brushed out the braids we had slept in. Katie had picked out a sky blue empire waist dress with a scoop neck, that had dove gray stitching and underlay. Whereas I now wore a maroon dress with a square neck and gold stitching, the stitching pattern was Celtic though I'm sure they called it something different here.

"Ready?" Katie asked, tugging down the sleeves of her dress to cover her tattoos.

Apparently people with tattoos were either outlaws, gypsies, or were from some sort of 'wild man' tribe. It was quite hilarious at first, seeing the startled and somewhat suspicious looks people gave us but now it was just annoying.

"Yeah," I yawned, adjusting the shorter sleeves of my dress. Unlike Katie my tattoos were not so easily concealed, so I didn't bother trying, but I did remove most of my piercings. Being questioned about the tattoos were enough of an annoyance thank you very much.

Breakfast is one of the more relaxed meals of the day, because the aggravatingly proper elves tended to eat separately, many of them considering themselves too good to eat with us lesser beings. There were however two elves that ate with us at every meal, they were Elrond's twin sons Elladan and Elrohir. They had become a constant presence since Katie and I had been deemed healthy, but the twins tended to spend more time with Katie.

I watched them from the end of the table too tired to do more than roll my eyes and nurse the blasphemy they dare call coffee. Frodo sat across from me; he was smiling and speaking with his uncle Bilbo. It was perhaps one of the few times I saw him genuinely happy, though I had only known him for a few days, Sam had also noticed his friend's improved mood and seemed content to eat and listen to Frodo and Bilbo's conversation. Meanwhile, Mary and Pippin were stuffing their faces and attempting to have a conversation, how they were able to understand each other while simultaneously chewing was beyond me.

"Dear Lady," Bilbo smiled kindly at me, "you should eat something, it will help you wake up."

"No thanks, I'm not much of a breakfast person." Not unless it was my mom's homemade chocolate chip, with nutella spread, pancakes.

His brows rose, "come now, the cooks spent their time preparing it the least you could do is eat it."

Eyeing a bowl of fruit to my left, "yes," I replied sarcastically, pointing to the bowl, "it must have taken hours to place fruit in a bowl."

Both he and Frodo laughed loudly, drawing the attention of the whole table. The dwarves, having heard my comment, were smiling broadly and began speaking loudly in their language. Whatever it was they said it did get a raise from the twins, whom snapped at them in the same language before picking up the only plate of meat on the table and running off with it.

I pounded my head against the table just as the dwarves began yelling after the elves. "For the love of all that is holy shut the hell up."

Of course no one heard this because god forbid if they were to focus on anything other than the lack of meat at the table. _The twins will pay when I get ahold of them._

Katie interrupted my daydreams of beating the two of them with a roast by reminding me that we were going to be late for the meeting if we didn't leave now. I groaned and guzzled the last of the now cold coffee. "Fuck my life," I said to her, as the yelling of the dwarves faded away with each step we took.

"Come in."

Katie and I looked at each other startled, her hand raised to knock on the door. Well then, that wasn't creepy at all. She opened the door, walking in after I did. Elrond was seated behind a large desk, he indicated that we were to sit and when we didn't it was Gandalf that smacked our shins with his staff. Needless to say, we quickly took the offered seats while the All Powerful Shin Smacker remained standing.

"Good morning," Lord Elrond said, smirking as we rubbed our potentially bruised legs. _The man takes the time to heal us then laughs when someone may have bruised us again_? My inner voice snorted, crossing her arms.

Glaring at him, I yawned loudly which could clearly be interpreted as a 'good morning my ass'. This earned me a smack to the back of my head, very much like the infamous Gibb's Smack from NCIS, but this was dealt by Gandalf. I had the unnatural feeling that he would be dealing out Gibb Smacks very often.

Rubbing the back of my head I glared daggers at the now snickering Katie, reaching out to pinch her in indignation. Only to be Gibb's Smacked before my hand was an inch in the air.

"For the love of Reese's Pieces, knock it off." I snapped at Gandalf. There were certain things people shouldn't do to me in the mornings; Gibb's Smacking being one of them. Though I probably deserved it after making it a point to follow him around after meals, he liked to smoke after eating, and repeatedly tell him he was going to die of lung cancer. But who was I to talk, back home I had my own Hookah and I popped the occasional bean.

Unperturbed to the mention of a candy he knew nothing about, he moved to stand beside Elrond who remained seated. He smiled good naturedly as I continued to rub my head crossly, before returning his attention to the situation at hand.

"Enough foolishness," commented the elf, gesturing toward two steaming mugs in front of him. "Lady Katie, unlike you," he glared at me, and I raised my well groomed brows at him, "Has been reporting to me every evening about the progress you've both been making with your memories, which is less than adequate. These cups contain herbs that will stimulate your brain, such as ginseng and wormwood; as well as other memory promoting ingredients."

I watched Katie pick up on of the glasses, nudging me to do the same, and lifted hers to her mouth. Her nose wrinkled at the smell.

"I know that it does not have the most appealing aroma," he smiled kindly, "but this is the best and possibly the quickest way to heal your minds."

Lifting my own mug to my nose, I sniffed the liquid and tried not to gag. "Holy hell," I commented, holding the glass an arm's length away. Katie nodded, giving the stinky drink and equally nasty 'stank eye' before plugging her nose and draining the cup. Inwardly I sighed but followed her example.

Trying not to vomit I returned the cup to Elrond's desk. There are no words to describe the taste of the offending 'tea', but if I had to I'd compare it to Jack Daniels, straight vodka, and Crown Royal mixed together with a dash of cough syrup, dirt, and pickle juice. My eyes watered and my body shuddered.

"I think my soul just died a little."

Katie groaned with her hand covering her mouth and eyes tightly shut, nodded in agreement.

Elrond's eyes flicked between us amused, knowing, of course, that our souls weren't really in jeopardy and the comment was just another strange saying we had. Setting the mugs aside, he chuckled, "I do not envy either of you."

"Ah-ha-ha," was my sarcastic remark.

"Gee thanks, love you too," remarked Katie, reaching up to rub her temples.

"Mother of migraines!" I jumped up and stumbled back into a darker part of the room, the sunlight suddenly feeling as if it was being reflected by thousands of mirrors. "I think…I'm going to go lay down."


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:**

I do not own LOTR.

I own Jessica and the beer that is currently in my hand.

Katie owns herself and a t-shirt that says "I only kiss Husker fans." (I am quite jealous of the shirt.)

**Remember that we are looking for feedback, so please leave a review.**

**Chapter Four:**

**Katie's P.O.V.:**

The medicine hadn't worked, at least not in the way it was suppose too. I remember being sent to Earth though I was hardly older than two or three years of age. The wizards, as well as Galadriel and Elrond, had been in a deep trance for days, their voices in unison creating an elaborate spell which doubled as a prayer to the creator of the world, Eru.

There was a little girl beside me, with dark hair and large brown eyes, she was screaming for her mother and when her mother did not appear she screamed for her brother. I too began to cry, wondering why my mother was dead and why she did not come back.

I felt silly now, wondering why my mother hadn't come back from the dead to care for me but no one had explained it to me back then. No one said that she'd never come back or why my father was never there. Even now I wonder why my father wasn't there; no one mentioned his name or whether he was alive or dead.

Wandering the halls of Rivendell aimlessly wasn't the most intelligent idea, especially when you're deep in thought. I had come to a garden, I'm not sure which since there were so many, and there was a small stream with a bench alongside it. I sat there, listening to the soft gurgle of the water and letting my tangled thoughts unravel.

There was still a nagging sense of familiarity or 'intuition' that had become a constant presence since my arrival and I hoped that Jess had had better fortune in regaining her memories than I had. But, at least I knew why we were here. Home, I turned my gaze towards the sky and watched the stars slowly appear.

I didn't notice Gandalf enter the garden until he cleared his throat, "why do you weep, child?"

"Weep?" I touched my cheeks, feeling the wetness of tears I hadn't realized I was shedding. "Ha," I sniffed, whipping the tears away with the sleeve of my dress.

"I take it," Gandalf sat beside me, puffing on his pipe, "that your thoughts have cleared?"

"Yes and no." I shook my head, looking to the ground in shame though I had nothing to be ashamed of. "I don't know how I know what will happen here, nor do I remember everything that will happen. But, I remember being sent away."

This surprised the wizard, whom was now looking at me intently his bushy gray brows almost disappearing into his equally gray hair. "Really?" He rumbled, pulling on his pipe again. "Tell me everything."

**Jessica's P.O.V.:**

_Note to self: Never accept tea from Elrond again._ I groaned miserably; the migraine had become nothing more than a dull throb in the back of my head. It was like no other migraine I had before, there was vomiting and a nose bleed. It felt like I was dying of a brain hemorrhage.

Did I have my memories back? Yes. Was the brain hemorrhaging migraine worth it? Hell no, I'd rather live under a rock. Right now, I was pissed. Jumping out of bed I noted that Katie wasn't there and figured that she was already with the traitors, giving them a piece of her mind. Smirking into the darkness, I ran from the room in search of Katie.

Elrond's study was the first place I looked, but the darkened room was empty. There was however, a green book on his desk and not just any book. I would have known that shade of green anywhere, neon green, the people here had no such color. The traitor had been reading my journal; no doubt he also had the pack I'd been wearing that night. I searched for several minutes before finding it, stuffed in a trunk in the far corner, my Domo pack and my shoes beside it. It was fuller than that night, and opening it revealed that they'd stuffed my clothes in there. Undressing, I quickly put on the Rave gear; bright pink bra and panties, black tripp shorts with the straps still attached, hot pink fish-net tube top under a tight fitting black crop top, and my knee high black converse with studded buckles. This was my way of saying that I was not going to play by their rules – well, and it was a pretty sexy outfit.

There was another pack beside mine, dark forest green with Katie's name written on it in black marker. Putting my journal away, I slung both packs over my shoulder and continued my search. Everyone who laid eyes on me stopped and stared, but pointed me in the direction of the dining hall without me having to say a word.

The rumble of male voices fell silent and there was the sound of silverware clanking against wood. Good, I thought eyeing the group, looking for my friend but not finding her anywhere.

"Jessica," Elrond stood from his chair at the head of the table. His tone was sharp, commanding, "put something appropriate on this instant."

I sneered, "Or what, Lord Elrond?" Walking towards him, my footsteps echoing, we stood facing each other, eyes matched glare for glare. He was taller than I, 6'8" to my 5'8", but in my anger I felt larger than the centuries old elf. "You've been lying."

Gasps echoed from further down the table, followed by whispers in a foreign language though a male voice called out, "disrespectful mortal brat."

There was the sound of a chair scraping against the floor, but Elrond and I did not break eye contact. Someone had grabbed hold of my arms, pulling me back gently, "let's finish this discussion in private."

It was Aragorn that led me to the garden, where Gandalf and Katie were speaking, Elrond a few steps behind us. The first thing I noticed was that Katie had been crying, even in the fading sun you could see the tear trails down her cheeks.

I ran to her, dropping both packs at the base of her feet, "Katie, what's the matter?"

"The medicine," Gandalf rumbled, "did not help."

"You do not remember," jealousy coursed through me like ice, and for a moment I hated her.

"No," she mumbled, voice cracking with emotion and fresh tears were filling her eyes. "A defense mechanism, I think, Jess..." Katie's voice trailed off and it took her several moments to calm down, "Jess, I remember so much but so little at the same time."

But I was backing away now, "what do you know then?"

"Haunting Voices."

"Speaking to you," I whispered, back against a tree. I too had heard voices upon my arrival, they whispered to me as I had been healing; telling me that I was back where I belonged, that someone was waiting for me; though I did not remember them until after the horrid tea.

She nodded, whipping her tears away and turning to look at Gandalf. "They said that I was home."

It was then that I realized we weren't talking about the same thing; her voices had no doubt been actual people. Her 'haunting voices' were real people talking to her, their words haunting her. _Why did they tell her and not me? Why's she so damn special?_ A dry laugh escaped me, "did they tell who," my voice rose with each word, "who your family was? How you got to our home?" She did not answer, and this made me laugh again.

She glared, "I remember how they," she waved her hand in the general direction of Elrond and Gandalf, "sent us to our world. How you screamed for your mother and brother…And how I...was alone, mother dead in Mirkwood and father..." Gandalf laid a comforting hand on Katie's shoulder, who was now crying again.

"Lady Jessica," Aragorn looked from Katie to me and back again, his brow furrowed in confusion and his voice questioning. "What is it that you remember?"

"Do you want to tell him or should I?" I sneered at the two. Somewhere, within the deep recesses of my mind, I knew I shouldn't say anything, that the very words, once said, would turn several peoples world upside down and that it could very well affect the story line. But I didn't care; this was one of those times where my anger got the best of me.

"Tell me what?"

Gandalf and Elrond stood tall, their expressions stoic. "No," was the elf's reply, "it was a request from his mother. You were not meant to return."

"What?" Aragorn stood rooted to the spot, "what did my mother want kept secret?" His voice rose, infuriated. "What have you not told me?"

"That you have a younger sister."


	5. Chapter 5

**This chapter is told solely through Jessica's P.O.V.**

**Disclaimer:**

I do not own LOTR.

Katie owns herself and a lovely set of blue scrubs.

I own myself and a very grungy pair of gym shorts.

**Please review or else I will not spare you when I am supreme ruler of the world. Mwahahahaha~! Naw, seriously, please review.**

**Chapter Five: **

Avoiding four people in the confines of Rivendell is not an easy feat, especially when you share a room with one of them. Katie and I were dealing with the situation in our own ways; I knew that she spoke to Gandalf often and spent much of her time with Elladan and Elrohir. Whereas I spent much of my time alone in the library or at the archery range. The only time I spoke to anyone was when they sought me out and the only ones that did that were the hobbits. So it was from them that I had to hear that I'd been requested to join the council.

"My Lady," Frodo jogged lightly towards me, still pulling on his jacket. "Lord Elrond said to find you."

"What does he want?" I asked, notching another arrow and taking aim.

Frodo and I had spent a great deal of time together, neither of us spoke at length but we had a mutual understanding. He spent time with me to escape the questions of Gandalf and Elrond; I was an excellent old man repellent, and I enjoyed his quiet companionship.

"Outer ring," he challenged, "bottom half."

The arrow hit with a dull thud, "bottom of the outer ring." I turned to him and saw a fleeting smile play across his lips. Smiling back at him, I went to hang up the bow I had been borrowing and the arm guard.

"He requests that you follow me to the council," Frodo said, falling into step beside me.

I grunted in reply, wishing I had taken the time to eat breakfast for once. "Lead on then."

Frodo and I were the last to arrive, everyone else having already taken their seats and eyeing each other. I rolled my eyes at their displays of I'm-better-and-stronger-than-you or, in the case of the elves and dwarves, my-race-is-better-than-yours. Frodo went to sit beside Gandalf, leaving me the only other seat available beside Katie. I quickly noted that she scooted her chair closer to mine; I sighed, taking the seat and smiling tiredly at her which she quickly returned. It was silly of me to be avoiding her knowing that it wasn't her fault that the potion hadn't worked, but I was so jealous that she lived oblivious to the fates of those around her.

Mouthing the words, "I'm sorry," to her, I turned my attention back to the council.

Noticing Elrond was looking down at my shoes, which were the only part of my rave outfit I still wore having put away the rest in exchange for a light brown tunic and black leggings. If anything this seemed to annoy Elrond and Gandalf the most, wearing men's clothing instead of a dress, so I made it a point to wear them. I challenged him with a glare which he returned before standing to speak, drawing everyone's attention.

For a moment, I wondered if he was going to explain why Katie and I, two women, were at the council. Many of the gathered men, though having seen us around Rivendell, were gazing at us curiously and whispering to each other.

"You have done well to come," said Elrond. "You will hear today all that you need in order to understand the purposes of the Enemy. There is naught that you can do, other than to resist, with hope or without. But you do not stand alone. You will learn that your trouble is but a part of the trouble of all the western world. The Ring! What shall we do with the Ring, the least of rings, the trifle that Sauron fancies? That is the doom that we must deem."

I groaned internally, _so the council will follow the book._ _Great_. Arching a brow at Katie, whom was paying close attention to the history Elrond spoke of, I leaned back into the chair and let my mind drift.

"Alas," Elrond said loudly, dragging me from my day dreams. "Strangers from distant lands, friends of old. You have been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor. Middle-Earth stands upon the brink of destruction. None can escape it. You will unite or you will fall. Each race is bound to this fate-this one doom." He gestured to Frodo, "Bring forth the Ring, Frodo."

_Well then_, I pursed my lips, watching Frodo place the ring on a pedestal at the center of the council. _ So much for sticking to the book._

"So it is true," commented Boromir, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

The gathered men began to whisper. "The doom of man."

I looked to Katie; she looked to me and nodded. She knew what was about to happen, I could tell by the slightly dazed look in her eyes that one of her memories had returned.

Boromir stood, "In a dream, I saw the eastern sky grow dark. But in the West a pale light lingered. A voice was crying: Your doom is near at hand." Slowly he began to walk toward the Ring, hunger twisting his features and his hand extended. "Isildur's Bane is found."

"Boromir!" Lord Elrond warned, leaping from his chair

Chanting filled the air, and the sky darkened. The council graveled in fear, looking around in confusion. Katie reached for my arm and squeezed tightly, if it wasn't for the fact that I was frozen to my chair I'd have ran screaming. It was one thing to see it in a movie, quite another to experience it. Gandalf stood and began to chant in Black Speech, "Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul!"

The Ring's chanting ceased, and the sky began to lighten once more. Katie and I gasped for air, my heart pounded against my ribs and, by the way Katie held her free hand against her chest, her heart must be doing the same. Taking deep breaths, I relaxed my hands which had clenched the arms of the chair tightly enough to leave my knuckles white and make my fingers ache.

"Never before has any voice uttered the words of that tongue here in Imladris!" Lord Elrond snapped at Gandalf, who was returning to his seat wearily.

"I do not ask your pardon, Master Elrond, for the Black Speech of Mordor may yet be heard in every corner of the West!" His voice rasped, turning to look at Boromir scathingly. "The Ring is altogether Evil!"

Boromir stood again, unperturbed by Gandalf's comment. "It is a gift. A gift to the foes of Mordor. Why not use this Ring?" He began to pace, "Long has my father, the Steward of Gondor, kept the forces of Mordor at bay. By the blood of our people are your lands kept safe! Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy. Let us use it against him!" He paused, meeting everyone's gaze.

I shook my head, and Katie whispered a soft, "No." This did not go unnoticed by Boromir, who set his jaw stubbornly.

"You cannot wield it! None of us can. The One Ring answers to Sauron alone. It has no other master."

"And what would a ranger know of this matter?" Boromir mocked.

Legolas jumped to his feet, declaring loudly. "This is no mere ranger. He is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. You owe him your allegiance."

"Aragorn? This... is Isildur's heir?"

"An heir to the throne of Gondor."

I snorted, earning a pinch from Katie. Legolas and Boromir, in my opinion, acted like fools in this scene. Aragorn ignored us and gestured for Legolas to sit, "Havo dad, Legolas."

Boromir glared at Aragorn, returning to his seat. "Gondor has no king. Gondor needs no king."

_Gondor has no PANTS. Gondor needs no PANTS. _I snorted, lifting a hand to cover the grin that I had not been able to smother. Thankfully, this went mostly unnoticed by the council, but not by Katie who arched her brow questioningly. Shaking my head, I returned my attention to the council.

"Aragorn is right. We cannot use it." Gandalf stared at Boromir while saying this.

Elrond inclined his head in agreement. "You have only one choice. The Ring must be destroyed."

"Then wha' are we waitin' for?" Gimli said gruffly, grabbing his ax and walking toward the pedestal. "ARGH!" He cried, striking the Ring with his ax, which shattered and caused him to fall back.

Frodo flinched in his chair, raising a hand to rub his temple. Katie began to stand, but I grabbed her arm and jerked her back into her seat. "Stop," I whispered to her, though she glared angrily at me. "We have to let this play out."

"The Ring cannot be destroyed, Gimli, son of Glóin, by any craft that we here possess. The Ring was made in the fires of Mount Doom. Only there can it be unmade. It must be taken deep into Mordor and cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came." Elrond met the eyes of everyone who dare meet his. "One of you must do this."

Silence fell over the council. Katie was watching Frodo, waiting. And I watched Boromir, repeating every word in my head as he said it.

"One does not simply walk into Mordor. Its black gates are guarded by more than just Orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep. And the great Eye is ever watchful. It is a barren wasteland. Riddled with fire and ash and dust. The very air you breathe is a poisonous fume. Not with ten thousand men could you do this. It is folly!"

Legolas stood again, his tone indignant. "Have you heard nothing Lord Elrond has said? The Ring must be destroyed!"

"An' I su'pose you think you're the one tah do it?!" Gimli retorted, jumping to his feet and glowering up at the elf prince.

Boromir stood, "And if we fail, what then?!" He challenged, "What happens when Sauron takes back what is his?!"

"I will be dea' before I see the Ring in the hands o' an Elf!" Gimli declared, puffing out his chest.

"I have an idea," I mumbled under my breath, "let's get the eagles to do it for us." Not even the Elves, with their annoyingly sensitive hearing, picked up on the comment. I rolled my eyes at the scene playing out before me.

Legolas held back his kinsman as they stood vexed by the dwarf's comment. Everyone had left their seats by now, joining in the argument. Gimli's voice could be heard saying, "Never trust an Elf!"

Frodo stood then, looking frightened but determined. "I will take it!" He cried, moving towards the pedestal.

"Hey!" I shouted, jumping to my feet and pulling Katie along with me.

"Shut the hell up!" We yelled at the same time, causing everyone to look at us in astonishment.

"Frodo has something to say," stated Katie, turning to look at the hobbit who nodded gratefully.

"I will take the Ring to Mordor. Though," he paused, looking to Gandalf, "I do not know the way."

Gandalf walked towards Frodo, placing his hands reassuringly on his shoulders. "I will help you bear this burden, Frodo Baggins, as long as it is yours to bear."

"If by my life or death, I can protect you," Aragorn approached Frodo and knelt before him, "I will. You have my sword."

Legolas joined them, "And you have my bow."

"An' my axe!" Declared Gimli, looking grimly at Legolas as he joined the group.

"You carry the fate of us all little one." Boromir walked towards the group, "If this is indeed the will of the Council, then Gondor will see it done."

"Heh!" Sam jumped out from behind some bushes, rushing over to his friend's side. "Mr. Frodo is not goin' anywhere without me!"

"No indeed," Lord Elrond said, amused, "it is hardly possible to separate you even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not."

I looked towards the pillars, laughing as Merry and Pippin emerged. "Wait! We are coming too!"

"You'd have to send us home tied up in a sack to stop us!" Said Merry, crossing his arms.

"Anyway you need people of intelligence on this sort of mission, quest... thing." Pippin nodded, looking over at his kinsman and up at Gandalf who looked as if he wanted to Gibb's Smack him.

"Well that rules you out Pip."

Katie and I smothered our laughter, Elrond turned to us which in turn drew everyone else's attention. "Will you be joining as well?" He inquired, looking at me.

He blinked in surprise that it was Katie who answered him, "Yes." She stepped forward, dragging my reluctant ass with her.

"What?" Boromir asked in astonishment, looking from us to Elrond. "Women? Why would they join us?"

"Oh no," I said, yanking my arm from Katie's grasp and stepping back. "I already know how this ends."

"Correction," Gandalf commented, "you know one way it ends."

"Exactly," I snapped, "Katie and I should not go, our presence would change the course of events."

"They should not come." Aragorn agreed, avoiding my gaze. The others, aside from Gandalf, Elrond, and Frodo, nodded in assent.

"They," Gimli rumbled, "will get in the way and need protectin'. We canno' be distracted from the protection o' the Ring tah look afta two lasses. Anyway, they will be o' no use tah us."

"I have seen the Lady Jess shoot," Frodo claimed, "and I know that she can see the future, as can the Lady Katie. I want them to come."

_Yeah, let's skip the fact that Katie doesn't actually remember any of this._ I snorted, crossing my arms but giving in. "Fine, but only because Frodo wants us."

Katie smiled triumphantly, and punched my shoulder. "Don't look so glum."

"Hold on a moment," Boromir declared, pointing at Katie and I. "Why should they come and who are they?"

_Oh boy, here we go. _"If you had been paying attention to Frodo, Lord Boromir, "Gandalf replied indulgently. "You'd have heard him say that the girls can see the future."

Boromir flushed an angry red at being reprimanded for not paying attention. "That still tells us nothing of who they are."

"If it means so much to you," the wizard retorted, beginning to grow impatient. "Jessica is a descendant of Numenor and Katie is half-elven. Now, is that good enough for you?"

Katie and I sniggered; watching Boromir flush an even deeper shade of red but he did not reply, seeming to have had enough of a verbal bashing from the wizard.

"Eleven companions..." Elrond mused, drawing everyone's attention back to the situation at hand. "So be it! You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring!"

"Great!" Declared Pippin, smiling broadly. "Where are we going?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:  
**

I do not own LOTR.**  
**

I own Jessica and a lovely poster of Loki. _Yum!_

Katie owns herself and a car that doesn't guzzle gas. _Lucky..._

**Chapter Six:**

******Jessica's P.O.V.:**

Katie and I were in the armory, searching for a suitable bow for her to practice with. Many of the bows that hung from the wall were too long and ornately decorated to be used, which begged the question of why they were even in the armory and not on display somewhere else. The Elves, having been trained from a young age and being much stronger than your average man, didn't have many bows that were acceptable for Katie or I to use. I had been lucky when I came across the bow that I had been practicing with; the draw weight was a little heavier than I was use to but that was easy to grow accustomed to.

As Katie picked up another bow and tested the draw weight, I began to day dream about my compound back home. Carbon arrows too, and my release, I was surprised by how much I actually missed my release. Hitting where you wanted was harder when you had to use your fingers, the bow string rolled off their tips instead of being simply let go by a release. But that was just my opinion and I was becoming use to the old fashion way of shooting.

"Ah-ha!" Cried Katie, having found a bow that she could pull back.

"Great," rushing to her side, I placed my finger on the bow string. "This is where you will anchor your mouth, and this-"

I was cut off by Katie squealing in surprise as she fired the bow…Dry fired the bow…Dry. Fired. The. Fucking. Bow. She was bent over, right hand holding onto her left forearm; she hadn't been holding the bow properly when she'd fired, and the bow string had grazed the inside of her arm.

"Well, that is what you get for dry firing a bow! Don't ever dry fire a bow, Katie, you could snap it." Shaking my head and sighing, I reached out to gently remove her hand in order to see her arm, a red welt rose from her elbow all the way to her wrist. Hissing in sympathy, I turned back to the bow rack and searched from an arm guard.

"Okay," standing behind Katie, I clasped the hand that held the bow. "Loosen your hold a little, if you hold on too tightly then the bow will shake and through off your aim." Grunting in acknowledgement, she anchored the line once more before firing.

There was a soft twang, as she released the arrow, and a thump as it hit the ground behind the target. "That's it," she cried, tossing up her arms. "I give up."

"Oh no! No, no, no, no, no….NO!" Blocking her exist, I pointed back towards the target where two of her arrows had hit while the others were stuck in the ground. "Katie, you can't expect to be some badass archer because you're an Elf. This takes practice, and one time during Out Door Ed., that one night at my house, and this last half hour isn't enough!" Crossing my arms, I glared at my friend like my archery tutor use to glare at me. Katie was lucky, unlike my teacher, Shane, who was also my cousin; I wasn't an intimidating 30 year old man with hard earned construction-farm muscle that threatened to fart on you if you didn't practice. Yeah, I wasn't going there, but that didn't mean I wasn't as determined to teach my friend as my cousin had been to teach me.

Katie grumbled, crossing her own arms and returning my glare. "I'm tired Jessica, and my arms hurt, I want to take a bath and go to bed."

"Excuses. Excuses." Originally we had been practicing from ten yards away from the target, because Katie was a beginner, but now we were a little over thirty. Notching one of my own arrows, kept in a quiver attached to my belt, I drew the bow, aimed, and fired.

Katie harrumphed, seeing that the arrow hadn't hit the target at all. "What's your point?"

"My point, Katie, is that no one is going to be perfect the first, second, or even third time they try something." Nudging her with the top end of my bow, she turned around and began to walk back towards the target. "I've tried hitting a target from _over_ twenty yards and still haven't hit further in than the outer rings; this just takes time." Nudging her once more, we both began to pick up our arrows, "I mean, when you first started playing soccer were you automatically good at it?"

Pausing to tug one of her arrows from the target, Katie shrugged, "Soccer in general isn't that hard to play, but when I became goalie…learning to not duck when a ball is being kicked at you and to concentrate when there's a penalty shot…I know you don't mean to be mean, Jess, and I know this takes practice but that doesn't mean I'm not going to get frustrated."

Straightening, I looked at my friend; her back was to me as she tugged on her arrow. "Sorry, I know I'm being harsh but we don't have a lot of time to prepare from this journey _you _volunteered us for." We both chuckled, remembering the look of surprise that crossed Lord Elrond's face when Katie had stepped forward, instead of me, to offer our services to the Fellowship.

"I couldn't help it," she said, as we walked back towards our firing line. "Frodo's eyes were all big and pleading…And-"

Aragorn and Legolas had just walked into the archery range; their eyes met ours for a brief moment, before setting up their own target. The elf would occasionally cast us curious looks as we stood silent on our end of the range, staring openly at them. Once they were done setting up both targets, Aragorn reached out to his friend and whispered in his ear, the look that the elf gave us afterwards was one that left us little room to wonder what Aragorn had said to him.

Growling, literally growling at the two of them, I pulled Katie back to the twenty yard mark and prepared to let off a little steam. Right now, I wished my cousin, my archery teacher, Shane, was here, because even though he was weird he wouldn't have put up with the tension. Wait; if Aragorn is my brother, then that means Shane isn't my cousin…

"As I was saying…" Katie started once more, shifting her body into a more comfortable position. "I blame Frodo's eyes, the man sure knows how to make a puppy face."

Snorting, I notched an arrow and took aim. "Stupid hobbit." I released an arrow, hitting one of the inner rings. Thump. "Stupid big blue eyes." Thump, the arrow hit another one of the inner rings. "Ow, shit!" I hadn't positioned my arm right, the bow string had caught my arm. Holding up a hand to wave Katie off, I ignored the sting as best I could and once more drew an arrow. "Stupid elves!" Thump, bulls eye.

"Whoa there," Katie crossed her arms in feigned offence.

"What?"

She pointed to herself, "Half-elven, remember?"

"Ah, right." I snorted, and notched another arrow. "Amnesia?

Katie rolled her eyes and points to herself again, "I still have amnesia, Miss I-don't-want-to-join-the-fellowship."

I harrumphed, and took aim once more. "Stupid half-elves." Thump, bulls eye.

"Grrrr!"

"Eep! Run for your lives!" I cried, dropping the bow and running past Legolas and Aragorn, whom were giving us both 'those-girls-are-nuts' looks.

Katie laughed evilly, less than a foot behind me as we ran down the hall but then she tripped on the hem of her dress.

"Ha!" I cried, stopping at the end of the hall. "I thought elves were supposed to be graceful," I gasped, unable to catch my breath because I was laughing so hard.

She shook with laughter, "half-elven," being her excuse.

This made us laugh even harder, her rolling on the ground and making me fall to my knees. Finally we were able to smother our laughter, but every so often we'd look at each other and break into giggles again.

"Ah," Katie groaned, standing up and holding the hem of her now torn gown. "Maybe I should start wearing pants like you."

I looked around franticly, peaking around the side of the hall I was on before running to the other end and looking around there.

"What are you doin'?

"Looking for Elrond, he has to hear you say that." I said, walking back to her and throwing an arm across her shoulders. "Welcome to the dark side Katie, we have pants."

It didn't take long to arrive at the seamstresses rooms, the elleth sighed exasperatedly and ushered us in. She clicked her tongue at the rip in Katie's dress and started bustling around in a desk before turning back with a needle and thread. I sat back, watching Katie hold up her hands and explain to the elleth that what she needed were a tunic and pants. The elleth argued with her for several minutes stating that no woman should wear men's clothes, and she glared scathingly at me. I arched a brow at her and yawned but said nothing.

Katie argued with her for several more minutes before the elleth retrieved the equipment to properly measure her for a tunic, leggings, and a pair of elven boots. She handed Katie a reasonably fitted set of clothes and said that she'd be done modifying another set for the both of us in two days. That was my cue to jump in and request that the clothing be suitable for colder weather, and that a pair of boots be prepared for me as well. She gave me a cold look but nodded.

"Geez," Katie muttered on the walk back to our room, "does anyone here like you?"

"Ouch Katie," was my sarcastic retort, but I shrugged it off. "It doesn't bother me; I'm not here to please anyone but myself."

"Ah," said a male voice from behind us, "but you only joined the Fellowship when Frodo asked you too."

I turned to see Boromir, he wore a playful smile but his eyes were calculating. He was tall, easily reaching 6'4", and took after the book's description of dark hair, gray eyes, and fair skin. _Seriously, why does everyone here have light eyes? _My inner voice grumbled, eyeing the attractive male specimen. _Attractive male specimen? _I did a mental face palm. The man was sexist _and _had been exceedingly rude towards us at the Council; I should not be checking him out. _But look at those broad shoulders, mmm…_

Katie elbowed my side, which jerked me from my thoughts of how sinfully delightful it'd feel to have Boromir's lips trail down my neck, his scruffy beard brushing against my skin. _No, snap out of it! Oh god, I've been staring at him look a moron. _

"Touché," I replied, smirking at him.

He arched a quizzical brow, obviously my less than witty remark was not what he expected, and no doubt he now saw me as a feeble minded female. _Oi vey._

"Forgive me," he said, bowing slightly, "for what I had said at the council, I did not know how important the two of you are." I wondered if he was being sarcastic, but his expression gave nothing away. "We have not been properly introduced, though I caught your names at the council." He smiled crookedly, "I am Boromir, son of Denethor, Steward of Gondor."

"Nice to meet you, Boromir," Katie held out her hand to shake, but he kissed her knuckles instead. She blushed, casting a goofy smile my way, "my name is Katie."

He smiled at her, before turning to look expectantly at me. _Oh, right…Damn it tongue! Work! _"Jessica," I managed to say, clearing my throat. "I am Jessica." _And you sir, are kind of rude._

Boromir reached out for my hand, which I had left limp at my side, and kissed the knuckles. With a grunt, he reached out to grab Katie's hand once more, while still holding mine, and tilted them both; displaying the bruised undersides where the bow strings had caught. "Been to the Archery Range?" Quirking his brow, he let our hands go.

I instinctively hid mine behind my back and flexed, as Katie nodded sheepishly. "She was teaching me-"

"Yes, well, it was nice meeting you," I took a step back, "but Katie and I have things to do. You know, look into a crystal ball, read tarot cards."

"Uh," his brow furrowed in confusion but he bowed again, "of course, have a lovely evening Ladies. Oh, and let your arms rest in cool water, it will bring down the swelling."

Yanking on Katie's shoulder, I pulled her roughly down the hall and into our room, bracing my back against the door and sighing in relief. Katie stood with her hands on her hips, brows lifted expectantly and a smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"What?" I demanded, crossing my arms defiantly.

She continued to stare, it was extremely uncomfortable.

"Oh, shut up," I mumbled walking toward the wardrobe and pulling out a nightgown and quickly changing.

Katie went to her wardrobe as well, hanging up her new clothes and changing into a nightgown. She said nothing as I went around the room blowing out the candles before crawling into bed, but I knew her silence wouldn't last. Crawling into her own bed, Katie rolled onto her side to face me.

"So," she prompted, and I could tell she was smiling by the tone of her voice.

"He's handsome," I replied, rolling away from her. _And sexist, _my inner voice reminded me.

"There is a 'but' in there."

"This is one of those times where I wish you remembered what happened." I sighed, rolling onto my back, "Boromir has a younger brother, Faramir, their mother died from some illness when they were both children. He is the favored son, a skilled warrior, loving brother and…" I paused, adding to the drama, "He is 41." _And he's destined to die._

"You know a lot about him."

Blood rushed to my face in embarrassment, "yeah, he was my favorite character in both the book and movies. He was played by Sean Bean, by the way."

"Huh," the sound of rustling came from her side of the room, and I turned to look at her. She was sitting in bed, hugging a pillow tightly to her chest. "Would you say he looks more like Sean or the way the book described him?"

I sat up, leaning backing against the bedframe. "Well, I'd say he's midway between both. I mean, you can't really tell a person's height in a movie but in the book he is described as being tall, with dark hair and gray eyes, which he has and is. Sean Bean had more reddish brown hair, in the movie, and his eyes were more blue than gray. But he has the same face as Sean, the same broad shoulders, and nose."

"Wow Jess, stalker-ish much?" She teased, laughing softly.

"Ha," I stuck my tongue out at her, even though she could not see it. "I fail to see it as 'stalker-ish' when the person is an actor."

"Fair point," Katie conceded, "but he's 41, no the age gap isn't what bothers me, but doesn't he have someone back in Gondor?"

"Naw," I yawned, slipping back down into bed crossing my arms behind me head. "He's a soldier through and through."

More rustling from her side of the bed, "Jess, what do you know about Legolas?"

"Pretty boy?" I had never truly paid attention to his character in the books, so it took me a moment to reply. "To be honest, I didn't really pay attention. He was played by Orlando Bloom in the movies, and if you paid close enough attention you'd notice that he'd sometimes forget to wear his blue contacts."

Katie laughed, "I don't think he can do that here. Was he nice?"

"Hmm…he has a deep sense of pride, which the booked described as 'youthful'," I snorted. "He and Gimli don't get along for the longest time, always making jabs at each other. But yes, I'd say that once you got past a certain barrier that he warms up. In the book…he was described as being somewhat naïve, but more in the sense of being in a constant good mood. He enjoyed beautiful things and was a faithful friend."

We lay in silence for a long time, before she tentatively asked, "and what about your brother?"

"Goodnight Katie." _It's not going to happen, so don't bother trying._

Silence…"Hey, Katie," I whispered.

"Hm?"

"Dude, this Middle-Earth underwear is giving me a wedgie." The underwear resembled women's boyshorts from our world but were a tad longer and looser, resulting in some discomfort.

She laughed uproariously, "I know right?!"

**Katie's P.O.V.:**

_I love Rivendell, if I could stay here for eternity, I would_. I sighed and walked along the paths that lead down to a babbling brook. Thin tree branches that had flowering vines draped over them caressed my face and arms; the wind was lightly blowing my face, the sounds of birds chirping in the air making a sweet, delicate song of love. Crouching down I put my hands in the water and cupped them together. I let the water pool into my cupped hands and made a shape of a heart and giggled. I looked at my reflection in the water, I look happy, but should I be? I closed my eyes and threw the water into my face, cold and refreshing. I opened my eyes and throwing water into my hair this time. I wringed it to the point where water barely dripped from the strands of hair flowing over my shoulders. Everything was more relaxed in this world, even I, although I knew of the treacherous journey that lay before me.

I heard footsteps from behind me. I stood still, not moving. A hand touched my shoulder ever so lightly, tugging on me turning me around. His face was flawless, golden hair flowing over his shoulders and down his back, a single braid on each side of his head woven close to his scalp. His cerulean eyes stared into mine, moments passed before one of us spoke.

"I wasn't given the opportunity to properly introduce myself to you, I am Legolas, son of Thranduil, Prince of Mirkwood," He said, kissing my hand.

_Oh my…_I could feel my face burning, blood flowing through my veins quickly, "My name is Katie," I managed to choke out before almost fainting.

"Are you alright?" Legolas asked, holding me up.

I sighed, throwing my hand over my forehead, "I am fine, just a little light headed." I smiled bashfully at the Elf Prince, "I've never fainted in front of a handsome man before." Legolas' face flushed a light pink color. I smirked at him before I began to raise myself up and out of his arms. I stood, straightening out my gown and fixing my hair, I could feel his eyes watching me as I did this

The Elven Prince quickly regained his composer, and cleared his throat in an attempt to cover up his lapse. "Gandalf mentioned that you're half-elven, from where do you reside?

"My mother lived in Mirkwood, before she died." I smiled sadly up at the lithe figure, "I was raised somewhere else."

"My apologies," he said, eyes softening at the mention of my dead mother. "I too know what it is like to lose a parent."

There was the sound of someone yelling, and Legolas cocked his head to listen. "I must be going," he said smoothly, bowing down to me he kissed my hand and walking very quickly back up the path.

I quietly watched his retreating form, before turning to walk up a different path towards the buildings, wind blowing in my face I looked all around me gazing in amazement of the beautiful architecture before my eyes. I walked into my chambers where Jessi was sitting on the bed writing in her journal.

"Hey, whatcha writing there?" I asked sitting on my bed across from her.

"Oh nothing," she said closing the book and placing it under her pillow, "Nothing at all," she turned to look at me, "and where were you?"

"I was down by one of the streams flowing away from Rivendell, enjoying the beauty of nature. We don't have anything this…" I paused, trying to think of the right word. "Pure, back home. Oh, and Legolas introduced himself. Such a gentleman." I added the last part offhandedly, waiting for her to pounce.

"Tell me more!" Jessi said jumping onto my bed, bouncing up and down.

"There's nothing more to tell, He just introduced himself and left," I said, leaving how what he'd said about his family.

"That's lame, what a pansy," Jessi said getting off my bed, "I'm gonna go to sleep then since your story is boring." She curled up into a ball and quickly fell to sleep.

_Phew…Man, she must be exhausted! Ha._

__**~oooOOOooo~**

**P.S. -  
**For those of you who may not know, DO NOT EVER DRY FIRE A BOW! EVER!...And no, I am not lying when I said my cousin Shane threatened to fart on me and his daughters if we didn't practice. Yep, my family is classy.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:**

I do not own LOTR.

I own Jessica.

Katie owns herself.

I wish I owned Boromir...and Loki...and Azazel...  
damn it...

**WARNING! ****This will be the last chapter I post unless someone writes a review. **

**Kthxbye.**

**Chapter Seven:**

**Katie's P.O.V.**

We had finally begun our journey to Mordor. We all walked in a line following Gandalf. I, walking slowly behind Legolas, gazed at the dagger Boromir had given me. _Speak of the devil, _Boromir appeared at my side.

"I know it's not much of a 'sword', but I thought it was the least I could do for you," Boromir said, smiling slightly. I could see why Jessi is attracted to him, his light grey-green eyes, dark mahogany hair, and broad shoulders. _Shall I say, handsome?_ I shook my head at the thought. _Nope, must resist temptation._

I smiled back, "It's a wonderful dagger Boromir, I'm very eager to get the opportunity to use it," I glared at him, "And, you still owe me some lessons ya know!"

Boromir chuckled, his eyes lighting up, "Of course my Lady, I would never make a promise that I could not keep. Once we make camp for the evening, I'll make sure we can get some practice in."

I stuck out my pinky to him as we were walking, and he looked at me confused. _He doesn't know what a pinky-promise is?_

"We pinky-promise when we make an agreement," I said, raising a brow.

"Oh!" Boromir said, chuckling, extending his pinky towards mine.

"Then it's a done deal," narrowing my eyes to slits, "don't disappoint me."

Boromir looked at me not knowing what to say; so he began to laugh, as did I. The air between Boromir and I began to lighten up. He turned to look back at the Hobbits, and I noticed Jessica was with them, she was teaching them how to play 'Green Glass Doors'. I shook my head and laughed at the frustrated expressions on the Hobbits faces.

"Do you think," he turned to look back at me, "that the Lady Jessica would like to learn as well?"

"Oh," I laughed, shaking my head. "No, she's already deadly enough."

Confusion marred his face, "pardon?"

"Her family is pretty much made up of people in the Military," I shrugged, adjusting the straps of my pack. "Not to mention the fact that she's a brown belt in Tae-kwon-do and is pretty accurate with a bow."

Boromir's brow furrowed when I mentioned the martial art but he nodded. "Ah, that is why she was always at the Archery Range in Rivendell." I noticed that he seemed disappointed that he would not be training her as well, and a warm feeling spread to my heart. _Awh, that's so cute. I'm happy that he seems to like her because I know that she's totally into him. _Images of the two of them together, usually with the Hobbits, came unbidden to the forefront of my mind. Boromir watching her from the corner of his eye and Jessica completely oblivious to his looks. Inwardly I smiled; _they'd either be the death of or bring the best out in each other._

Legolas had begun to slow his pace, matching my speed. He was staring at me, although I did not notice because Boromir and I were enjoying each other's company at the moment. I got a slight nudge into my ribcage, "Ow, watch it," I yelped, looking over at Legolas who really thought he'd hurt me.

He reached out to me, checking my side for any injury. "I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to hurt you!" He said worriedly.

Giggling, "You didn't hurt me, I was just joking with you!"

"Thank goodness. I thought to myself that I had already hurt you! And to think before leaving Rivendell I had promised you that I would protect you by any means, and if I can't protect you from myself then I cannot protect you from others causing you harm." He laughed boisterously, blue eyes glimmering with humor.

We continued walking along the cliffs, there was now a large distance between where we were and Rivendell. I felt a bit of anxiety, being so far away from something I considered _home_. I missed Elrohir and Elladan, who were constantly getting themselves into trouble; Elrond's constant gaze, which, to be honest, he always seemed mad. But who wouldn't be mad. He had two sons that were always up to some sort of mischief, a daughter who was in love with a Dunedain, as she was immortal, and two randoms that popped up out of nowhere almost two and a half months ago.

I heard a grumble from in front of us, "We shall make camp for the night here." Gandalf stood with his staff planted into the ground. "Today has been a long day and we must get rest before we leave early in the morn'."

I dropped my things to the ground; my dagger fell from my sash that was tied to my hip. I bent over to pick it up and realized someone else had grabbed it. Looking up I saw Boromir smiling, "Are you ready?"

"I've never been not ready," I said putting my body into a fighting stance, fists raised in the air. I took a quick punch at his shoulder, "OW! You're as strong as a rock!" I started to rub my hand. I looked up with pain in my eyes, and began to laugh, "I have LOTS of work to do if I plan on fighting."

"Alright my lady, you're going to want to try to watch the feet of your opponent, but NEVER remove your eyes completely away from them," _Hm, kind of like soccer, watch the ball but don't remove contact from the movement of the body. _He started to walk towards me looking at the ground, "AH, here we are," he exclaimed picking up a small twig from the dirt," We'll use this since you are a beginner, we don't want any wounds because of an accident that could've been prevented." He stood there, looking at me for a moment, moving his head up and down. He placed his hands on my shoulders, saying, "You need to have the right stance when in battle to be able to move freely with your sword, it should feel like it's an extension of your body. Later on when you've had enough training we'll have you practicing with a shield and sword, in due time. The sword, or in your case, twig, needs to be a center stance, with your sword pointing towards your opponents face. The closer the blade is to the center, the more control you have in movement."

I stood as he kicked my feet apart matching the shoulder width of my body, then my leading foot, my right, slightly forward. He bent down and lifted my feet so that I was on the balls of my feet, "You need to be on the balls of your feet, relaxed, almost like a spring. This'll make it easier to move, especially when moving while wearing heavy armor." I nodded and stayed as motionless as possible. He placed his hand on his chin, stroking his beard, "hold your sword slightly out in a shoulder parry or 'on guard' position. Your wrist should be relaxed and in line with your forearm. Adjust the angle of your arm until you feel the weight of the weapon being taken by your shoulder. This will help you fight for long periods of time, without tiring quickly. Grip your sword, not tightly, but enough for it to move freely in your grip. This will allow you a more, let's say, powerful blow."

I nodded again, standing how he placed me; twig in hand, "Are you ready for me to kick your ass?"

Boromir chuckled, "I don't think you'll be doing much, rear-end kicking, with that as your weapon," pointing at the twig gripped in my hand.

Everyone started laughing; I screamed, charging towards Boromir swinging my twig wildly in the air going, "aye aye aye aye aye aye!"

Jessica and the Hobbits fell to the ground laughing, Legolas seeming to be very amused by my 'plan of attack'. Aragorn, Gandalf, and Gimli sat upon a rock laughing at the spectacle and chatting amongst themselves. Jumping into the air I smacked Boromir in the head with my twig.

"Ha, you're dead!" I stood in front of him with the most evil of grins stretched across my face. Boromir wobbled back and forth, pretending that he was going to fall. I started laughing and he grabbed me, and swung us around in circles.

"Oh my god, I'm gonna puke!" I said, holding my hand over my mouth as he continued to spin in circles.

He fell to the ground, I landing on top of him. I gazed into his eyes, as we were both still laughing, as was everyone else. I took a deep breath, the world still spinning; I sat there for just a moment before I got up from him and held my hand out to him. "Well, how'd I do?"

"You took on the position very well, moving correctly, sword held in the right position. We'll still need to practice you holding your stance though, and the swinging the sword randomly in the air will not do when you're in the midst of battle." He chuckled placing his hand into mine, half pushing himself from the ground while I pulled him the rest of the way.

I turned round to face the hobbits, Legolas, and the others, "who is my next victim?"

Gandalf laughed and said, "I think that's enough for tonight, all of us need some rest."

I coughed, and under my breath whispered, "party pooper."

"I heard that," Gandalf's gaze burning into me.

**Jessica's P.O.V.:**

The sun had just begun to peak over the horizon, turning the clouds gold, bronze, with a hint of pink. It was stunning to see but we had little time to admire it, Gandalf had kept us at an unrelenting pace for the last three days stopping only to sleep and to replenish our water supply. Eventually everything began to blend together in one big blob of green and brown, and the sounds of nature became distant. We ate dried meat for breakfast and lunch, only hunting game when we stopped for the night; there were now leagues between us and Rivendell.

I was pulled from my reverie by Merry tugging on my cloak. "Tell us a story, Jess, something to pass the time."

"I dunno," my brain was sluggish; tongue thick from lack of use. "Ask me tonight, when we take a break."

This seemed to satisfy the hobbit, who fell silent but remained at my side. I sighed, looking around at the Fellowship before falling back to Sam, who was walking the pack pony Bill. He watched curiously as I unzipped the front pocket of my Domo pack, pulling out my iPod which thankfully still had a charge.

Katie watched as I turned the iPod on, "it's still working?"

I nodded, switching to power save mode. "Yeah, but I think it's broken. The charge symbol is on." Shrugging in confusion I jogged up to her side, and pointed this out to her. "See? Not even the 20% Battery Warning has popped up yet."

She shrugged, "that's just weird."

I nodded, slipping the device into the pocket I'd asked the seamstress to sew onto my tunic. "Let's watch a movie when we make camp tonight," I smiled at her, nudging her with my elbow. "Make the most of it while we can."

Legolas popped up beside Katie, "excuse me, but what is a moo-vey?"

"Movie, M-O-V-I-E," Katie spelled out for him, "it's like a play but you don't have to wait for the theater to put it on, you can watch it whenever you want."

"Interesting," he smiled, eyes lighting up. "Perhaps, we could join you tonight?" He looked at me, "that is if it's okay with you, Lady Jessica."

"Oh yes!" Cried Pippin, appearing beside his kinsman Merry. "Please?"

Everyone was look at me now, aside from Gandalf who grumbled about needing to pick up the pace. I pursed my lips, wondering if I had a movie suitable for everyone to watch because I highly doubted they'd find it acceptable to watch two people being intimate. _Hell, they'd probably be horrified that Katie and I, women, watched scenes like that without flinching. _

"Alright, how do you feel about watching a movie about a princess named Rapunzel?"

The rest of the day was spent explaining the story and what an animated movie was. I almost lost my temper with the hobbits even though their ignorance wasn't their fault, Katie glossed over my growing frustration by telling them it was drawings that acted out the story rather than people. The Fellowship must have sensed my growing frustration because they refrained from asking me further questions, turning to Katie instead. I apologized to them later, explaining that I preferred to focus on the hike rather than talking as it distracted me, making my footsteps clumsy.

Finally, we had stopped for the night. Legolas and Aragorn had left to hunt, while the rest of us set up camp. Boromir lit a fire, all the while explaining the basics of swordplay to Merry and Pippin, Frodo was off talking to Gandalf, while Katie and I were helping Sam with Bill. It was an hour later before everyone was back, each holding a bowl of rabbit stew, that I unpacked my portable speakers and arranged everyone so they could see the screen.

Their reaction was a little dramatic; Gimli and Boromir jumped back from the device declaring that it was witchcraft which made Katie and I burst out laughing. Katie was the one that had to calm them down and explain that it was not witchcraft but technology; I was too busy rolling on the ground dying of laughter. Twenty minutes later, with Gimli still glaring distrustfully at the iPod and speakers, we were able to start the movie.

Tangled was a hit, Sam adored Maximus the Horse and Pascal the Gecko, they all laughed uproariously when the criminals at the Snuggly Duckling began singing "I've Got a Dream", I think I even caught the hobbits blinking back tears when Flynn died but they clapped enthusiastically afterward, when Rapunzel's tear healed him.

Then the scene came where Rapunzel returned to her family, and I tensed as did Aragorn, we watched the scene play out, with her family hugging her tightly and tugging Flynn down to join them. When the movie ended, Aragorn quickly moved away claiming that he had first watch. Katie was glaring daggers at him as we cleaned up and settled down to bed, and he seemed to sense this because he shifted uncomfortably. She grumbled mutinously under her breath, turning her back on the Ranger.

_Alrighty then, _I thought drifting off.

_Sweltering heat, a Giant with wings and skin that shifted and burned like molten lava. It roared with breath that seared your skin._

_"You cannot pass!" Cried Gandalf holding his staff high, casting a protective barrier that shielded him from the Giants sword. "I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the Flame of Anor. The dark fire will not avail you, Flame of Udun!" The Beast sniffed, brandishing it's sword that snapped, changing into a whip. "Go back to the shadow," the Daemon stepped onto the bridge. "You shall not pass!" Gandalf roared, thumping the bridge with his staff. A blinding sheet of white flame sprung up and the bridge crumbled and dropped away, taking the Beast with it. Gandalf grunted, turning away from the falling Daemon only to hear a crack of thunder the end of its whip lashed out and curled around Gandalf's foot, dragging him over the edge. Barely hanging on with his fingertips, "fly, you fools," he gasped, before letting go._

"No!" I screamed, jolting myself and everyone else awake.

Gandalf was instantly at my side, holding tightly onto my shoulders and shaking me gently. "Calm girl, it's only a dream."

Heart racing and adrenalin coursing through my veins, it took a moment for his words to seep in. I clung to him, Gandalf whole and alive in my arms; he allowed this for a moment, stroking my hair in a calming gesture before prying my arms away. Still breathing heavily, I looked around and noticed that everyone, save for Legolas, looked almost as frightened as I felt.

Face burning with shame; I looked to the ground hugging my knees tightly. Someone wrapped their arms around me, Katie, she rubbed my back and we rocked back and forth. Seeing that there was no danger the rest of the Fellowship lay back on the hard earth, falling quickly back to sleep.

"I'm okay," I mumbled, squeezing Katie once more before pulling away. "Just a bad dream, I'm okay."

She didn't look convinced, "want to talk about it?"

I shook my head, signing with my hands that too many people were around.

"Use secret code," she signed back.

"Too much to say."

She pursed her lips, clearly unhappy by my response but letting the subject drop for now. Pulling her blanket next to mine she lay back down and pat the ground, saying that I should go back to sleep.

I shook my head, turning to look at Legolas, "Go to sleep, I'll keep watch." He hesitated, but seeing that I was wide awake and that it was close to dawn, maybe an hour or two off, he nodded in compliance dropping down from where he was perched on a rock.

Katie sighed, pulling her cloak tighter around herself but slowly fell back to sleep. With everyone sleeping, I finally allowed myself a moment to truly give into despair. I knew that people were going to get hurt and die, but that was a book and a movie, it wasn't real life. Until now.

With the sky lighting up in the pre-dawn light I stiffened my spine, it was a new day.

Today we were breaking in a valley, enjoying a day of good weather. Gandalf was sitting on an outcropping of rock, smoking, and arguing with Gimli over the route we would be taking to Mordor, while everyone else was watching Merry and Pippin training with Boromir. It was a beautiful day; the sun shone brightly and a light breeze blew over the grasslands.

"Two, one, five." Boromir laughed softly, "good, very good." He turned towards Merry, falling back into a starting position before jabbing gently at the Halfling.

"If an'one was tah ask fo' my opinion," Gimli huffed, placing his fists on each hip, "which I note they're not, I'd say we were takin' the long way round. Gandalf, we could pass through the Mines o' Moria." A smile spread across his face, imagining the reception they'd receive, "My cousin, Balin, would give us a royal welcome."

Gandalf sighed, removing his pipe from his mouth. "No Gimli, I would not take the road through Moria unless I had no other choice."

"You're going to die of lung cancer," I called over to him, in a sing song tone. He harrumphed, blowing the smoke in my direction. Chuckling, I gathered mine and Katie's things and stuffed our packs under a nearby bush.

Katie meanwhile was with Legolas atop a boulder overlooking the landscape; they were speaking softly to one another. She met my eyes briefly, before signing the word 'memory,' I nodded in understanding and signed back 'pack is hidden in bush." Giving me the thumbs up, she looked back across the valley.

"Move your feet!" Aragorn instructed, from the ledge he sat on. His pipe half-forgotten as he watched the Gondorian coach the Hobbits in swordplay.

"Faster!" Yelled Boromir, stepping towards the hobbit. "Come on." He slid his blade down Pippin's, accidentally nicking his hand.

"Aaaah!" Pippin dropped his blade, holding his hand to his chest.

Boromir rushed towards him, his crooked smile disappearing into a horrified frown. "Sorry!"

Pippin retaliated by kicking the warrior in the shin, making him cry out in alarm.

Merry tossed aside his weapon now, "Get him!" Letting out a war cry, he and Pippin pounced on Boromir in a mock battle. The three rolled in the dirt, Boromir laughing loudly and the hobbits crying out, "For the Shire!"

Setting aside his pipe, Aragorn jumped from his ledge. "Gentlemen, that's enough," he grabbed the hobbits shoulders that in turn grabbed his legs and yanked. He fell to the ground with a muffled thump and gasp of pain, the hobbit duo pounced on him now drawing him into the playful fight.

_Honestly, the man can battle Nazgul, Orcs, and every other evil being out there, but gets overpowered by Hobbits? _Shaking my head at the dust covered figures, I strolled over to Sam, "You're going to want to put out that fire."

He looked up from his plate, fixing me with questioning stare before turning to look at our watch Legolas whom was staring intently at a fast approaching black blob. _Yes, let's completely ignore the person who knows the future._ "What's that?" He called to Legolas.

"Nothing," Gimli rumbled, "it's just a whiff of cloud."

The four battling figures stood, observing the 'cloud'. Boromir pushed the hobbits behind him protectively, "It's moving fast…against the wind."

Legolas's eyes widened, "Crebain from Dunland!"

"Hide!"

"Told you," I said to Sam, as he put out the small cook fire. Grabbing a few bedrolls that had been left out, I rolled under the bush I'd stuffed the packs into. I didn't realize that someone else had hidden there as well until I smacked into a broad chest. Boromir pressed a finger to his lips before wrapping his free arm around my waist, holding my tightly against his body. _Oh hello muscles, _my arms were trapped between us, hands pressed to his chest. _Hold on a second, _I looked down and noticed that his trapped arm was accidentally grazing my breast. Seeing that I was not paying attention to the birds outside, he looked down and turned beat red, pulling his arm quickly away.

I rolled away before he could apologize, the birds had gone. Jumping to my feet, I watched everyone slowly reappear; Katie stood off to the side with Legolas, their leggings bore the same dust marks indicating that they'd hidden together. Her blue eyes met mine in relief before shifting to look behind me, I turned and saw Boromir had managed to climb out from under the bush; he was holding out our packs and mumbling an apology.

"Spies of Saruman!" Yelled Gandalf, watching the birds fly further and further away. "The passage South is being watched. We must take the Pass of Caradhras."

**Katie's P.O.V.**

Rubbing my eyes, I awoke to a chubby face in my view of the sky. I screamed and grabbed a hold of my chest. I sat up bumping who's ever head it was and fell back down.

"Oh my Dear Lady!" Said the voice, alarmed, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, I was about to wake you up."

My vision finally cleared, it was Sam. _Stupid hobbit…_ "It's alright Sam, do not feel bad. You were just trying to help." I could hear Pippin and Merry chatting about one of the love scenes from Tangled. They were giggling and teasing Sam.

"Sam, you remember Rosie!" They winked at Sam and laughed. Sam's face turned the darkest of red and turned away. I giggled along with the others and gave Sam a little squeeze letting him know that it was okay to feel embarrassed but not to let it bother him. His face turned back to a nice peachy color and he chuckled.

The others were awake, there was a fire going and something was cooking.

"Looks like the tables have turned chicka," Jessi said punching my arm, "Now you are the one who isn't waking up early. Muahahaha." Her evil grin and laugh brought out a boisterous laugh from deep in my gut and I fell back down laughing because it was true; traveling so much made me exhausted and I tend to sleep in when my body is running low on fuel.

I could hear Gandalf talking with Gimli about which path to take to Mordor. Gimli had suggested going through the Mines of Moria, but Gandalf objected to the idea and instead suggested taking a different path saying he would only take the mines if there was no other option. Merry and Pippin were now practicing with swords and fighting with Boromir. I felt a smile come across my face as it was delightful to see that even though the journey was long, the Fellowship found ways to keep a strong bond. Legolas was perched up on a rock facing the valley keeping watch. _Damn, that ass…Okay, I'm gonna go over there. Come on Katie, you can do this. He's a fine piece, don't act like a fool._

Looking up to the rock Legolas turned around and smiled holding out his hand to me. I firmly grasped his hand and he pulled me up to the top of the rock. I sat and Legolas joined me, crossing his legs.

"It's quite a view, such beauty this valley and mountains have," said Legolas with a smile.

"Indeed, it's breathtaking," I could feel the blood rushing to my face, I thought that Orlando Bloom played a sexy Legolas, but holy shit…the real Legolas is just. _A fine piece of work_. I moved my hands behind my sides and leaned back a little bit, "I'm sorry about the night in Rivendell when I left you in the courtyard on the bench…"

Legolas' hand moved to my side, barely touching my hip, "It's fine, do not feel bad. I could feel the hurt in you without you speaking the words. I knew that you weren't being rude; it was just a defense mechanism. I understand, I can be the same myself."

I sighed with some relief that he wasn't upset about that night.

"Although, I'm curious about something," said Legolas. _Oh great, he's probably going to say someone saw me staring at him as he walked away from me or something. How am I going to explain to him that I was staring at his ass…?_

"What is it?" I asked with a concerned look on my face.

"Do you remember anything at all, from your past?"

I sat there for a second; _I wish I could say I did._ "No, not at all." My eyes fell to the point where I was staring into my hands now. "I truly wish I could at least remember something from my past; it's so difficult not being able to piece things together. Everything is like a puzzle for me, and I'm always searching for the missing piece that is hidden amongst the others."

"Don't worry My Lady; it will come to you soon." Legolas said with a smile stretching from cheek to cheek. I smiled back at him. His hands now cupped both of mine and we looked off into the distance. I turned around to see Jessi signing to me that are packs were in a bush. I nodded, giving her a thumps up and turned away.

I squinted towards North, something dark was moving towards us.

"What is that?" I whispered to Legolas, vaguely aware that Sam had called to the Elven Prince asking the same thing.

We both stood up, looking.

"Nothing, just a whiff of cloud," noted Gimli.

"It's moving fast, against the wind," Said Boromir.

Legolas' eyes widened, he grabbed my hand and shouted, "Crebain from Dunland!" Everyone scattered below us, hiding in the bushes and behind the rocks. Legolas and I jumped down from the rock and underneath some bushes.

"Spies perhaps," I whispered to Legolas.

"Shh…" Legolas said and motioned his one finger touching my lips.

We sat there from which seemed like an eternity as the birds flew over the top of the rocks, circling our camp. Legolas looked at me, eyes gazing into mine. I stared back at him for a split second, and Legolas began to move closer to my face. We were inches apart from each other. _Oh my God, is this really happening!? Is he about to kiss me?! Shit, shit, oh shit!_ Just as our lips were about to touch the others begun to talk and come out from there hiding places. Legolas looked away and climbed out from under the bush, _DAMMIT ALL._ His hand reached out to me, which I took and he lifted me up. I looked at our knees which both were covered in dirt. I looked over at Jessi, and she was staring at me. I bet I know exactly what she's thinking about. I noticed Boromir's face was a light pink; he'd been blushing about something. I'll have to ask Jessi about that later. He had Jessi and I's pack and noticed he was mumbling towards Jessi. _Hm…_

"Spies of Saruman!" Yelled Gandalf, watching the birds fly further and further away. "The passage South is being watched. We must take the Pass of Caradhras." Gandalf turned facing the gigantic mountains.

_Awesome, _I thought to myself_, just what I wanted to hear. I'm gonna be knee fucking deep in snow._

"Don't worry my Lady," Legolas said as he grasped my hand, "Everything will be fine." Something deep within my gut churned, something wasn't feeling right. I squeezed his hand and released my grasp, letting his hand fall to his side.

I looked over to Jessi who had an evil smirk across her face, she signed to me, _what's going on here?!_ I gave her a quick glare and she laughed before turning away to help Merry and Pippin. Everyone gathered up there things and we began our journey up the mountain.


	8. Chapter 8

**Guests -** Awwwh, Thank you! I'm glad to know that you like it.

**Ilovelotr- **Thank you for reviewing. I do agree that Jessica and Aragorn being related is corny, as well as Katie being Half-Elven (And something else but you'll just have to wait for that!). The reason behind the "corniness" is because I've read several FanFicts that had an OC/Aragorn relation, and they irritated me to no end because Aragorn would immediately accept them as family. That is why I decided to have the OC/Aragorn relationship, to write a more realistic reaction to the discovery. I'm not sure about you but if I was raised to believe my family was dead only to find out later that my mother had sent a younger sibling away for their protection, I'd be really pissed off. But yeah, just thought I'd explain my reasoning too you. Hope that you keep reading! P.S. - Boromir is a sex-muffin. You may not like me after his death scene though, haha.

**BellyCullen24- **I am glad that it makes you laugh ^^ But it's going to become dark within the next few chapters. Dun duuun DUUUUUNNNN! *Dramatic Chipmunk!*

**Thank you everyone for reviewing and the continued support =] **

**Disclaimer:**

I do not own LOTR!

But I do own Jessica, a pet cat named Nova, and Skyrim.

Katie owns herself and a condom wrapper that quotes Gandalf "You shall not pass!" Honestly, I'd trade her my cat for the wrapper.

**Chapter Eight:**

**Jessica's P.O.V.:**

The hike up the mountain was arduous; slick with snow, harsh winds, and dark clouds over head. It was with earth shattering effort that each of us placed one foot in front of the other; I did not envy the hobbits, though the soles of their feet were thick and covered in course hair the path was littered with sharp stones and deep snow. The high altitude and lack of food was making me dizzy, it was difficult to focus on anything other than the need to continue forward. Even with the extra layer of clothing I'd packed and the elven cloak, the winds tore through and froze my insides, but I still sweated the beads of it freezing in my hair and down my back.

Three of the four Hobbits huddled in front of me, too tired and cold to continue on. Bundling them into my cloak, we stood their shivering. "Gandalf," I called, teeth chattering, "We must stop!"

He turned, eyeing us and the rest of the ragged company with worry. The sky, already overcast with storm clouds was beginning to become even darker and the wind howled. Gandalf nodded, moving toward an outcropping of rock that offered us little shelter.

Scraping away snow, Sam removed a bundle of wood from Bill and tried desperately to make a fire. When it did not work, Aragorn came forward to try. Meanwhile, Katie and I were leaning back against the rock with the Hobbits snuggling into our sides. She coughed hoarsely, and shivered.

"Katie," turning to look bleary eyed at her, "h-how are you holding up?"

She laughed halfheartedly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Oh, you know, it's like vacation." She paused, taking deep breaths and coughed again. "This is w-worse than the R-Rockies."

"This is useless," Aragorn muttered, giving up on the fire and turning to Gandalf.

The wizard sighed, "If there are any spies that can endure the snow, then they can see us, fire or no." He thrust the end of his staff into the kindling, and a flame sprang forth. "If there are any to see, I have just written a sign that says 'Gandalf is here' for all to see, from Rivendell to Anduin."

But we no longer cared, even though the fire was small and gave off little heat it was still fire. The Fellowship moved closer to the flames, with lightened expressions. Katie and I leaned against each other; our feet extended towards the fire and our bed rolls lying across us. The Hobbits nestled at our sides, Frodo and Sam at mine and Merry and Pippin at hers. If it wasn't for the rock at our backs and the still howling winds, it could have been called pleasant.

"My Lady," Boromir lay on the hard ground a few feet away. "I haven't been able to properly apologize for earlier."

I shrugged, "it's fine, no harm done."

"Still, t'was not appropriate," he smiled, relief evident in his grey eyes.

Choosing not to reply knowing that it would undoubtedly be inappropriate, something along the lines of 'if you'd wanted a feel, all you had to do was ask.'

Boromir sputtered, "What did you say?"

"What?" Blood rushed to my face, "did I say that out loud?"

He nodded, eyes sparkling with good humor and body shaking from no doubt repressing a laugh. "Aye, you did."

"Oh," I giggled, winking at him playfully, "well, let me know next time"

He laughed, tossing back his head. "Are all women like you where you're from, Prophetess?"

_Awh, he thinks that I am joking. _"No," I nodded my head towards the sleeping figure of Katie. "Katie for instance would never say such a thing, even jokingly, unless she was comfortable with the person."

He smiled, letting the friendly air settle between us. But his crooked grin soon faded into a more pensive look as he gazed thoughtfully into the crackling fire. He looked to the sleeping figures of the wizard, ranger, and elf before turning to look again at me. "What do you see in our future, Lady Jessica?"

"Do you mean the Fellowships future," I board my eyes into his, "or your own?"

He pondered this for a moment, "the company's future."

"I foresee us turning back, going instead into the Mines of Moria."

"Have you known this all along?"

I nodded, eyes drifting closed sleepily.

"Then why let us traipse up this forsaken mountain?" He sat up, leaning against his elbow and staring incredulously at me.

"It's important," _we must learn how far Saruman's power reaches; _I finished in my mind. Actually, we didn't need to travel up Caradhras but I was worried that if we didn't then the timeline would be thrown off. Even in the book the Fellowship had attempted to climb the mountain, only to turn back. I shuddered, unable to continue the train of thought as exhaustion overwhelmed me; all I could think about was the stark fear of deferring from the time line before falling fitfully into slumber.

**Katie's P.O.V.: **

The snow was deep and the mountain steep. The cold air wrapped tightly around our bodies causing us to all shiver and struggle to breathe. Legolas had given me his bed roll to wrap around myself as we journeyed up the mountain side. He walked close by my side, making sure I was taking the right steps and sometimes placing his hand on my back to help keep my balance. Walking up the mountain Frodo stumbled on the ice and began to roll down the steep side of the mountain. We all stopped, watching him roll back towards Aragorn who was there catch and help him back to his feet. Frodo did not look thankful however, as he frantically began searching the snow for something. Boromir walked towards Frodo picking up the chain in the snow, he stared at it. I couldn't see what he was doing, but I saw Aragorn's mouth move as his hand grasping his sword. _What is he doing?_ Boromir said something, I'm not exactly sure what, and handed the ring to Frodo and tussled his hair letting the snow fly out in all directions. Aragorn's grip on his sword released. I sighed with relief, the sigh quickly turned into a chest rattling cough. Legolas patted my back, looking worriedly at my face; I shook my head and kept walking.

We continued up the mountain on a not so wide path. If you looked toward the right there was the cliff all the way to the bottom of the mountain, I shifted to look for Jessica, my friend was not taking to the high altitude and lost her balance often. She and Frodo were helping each other, his much smaller frame pressed closely to hers.

Snow was swirling in all directions, Gandalf was making a path for us to walk in, Legolas was walking on top of the snow as if he weighed nothing, and for a moment I thought about tripping him.

"There is a fell voice on the air," Legolas said as he looked off into the distance.

"It's Saruman!" Yelled Gandalf.

I could hear the chanting that Legolas spoke of. _His voice, it sounds so familiar._ Gandalf began to chant off something into the sky holding his staff in the air, he motioned for Legolas to come to me and cover my ears. I am not so sure why. There was a crack; a lightning bolt struck the mountain top and snow began to fall from the mountain. Legolas gripped me tightly as the snow had begun to bury us alive, I clung to him not letting go or moving. I buried my head against his chest.

Seconds passed by and I felt Legolas shift his weight and the snow moved and broke away from us. He laid his head against mine for a moment and tightened his grip on me; he kissed my forehead and pulled us out from under the snow.

The next couple to appear was Jessica and Frodo, they were being held tightly by Aragorn and I wondered for a moment if the two of them had talked yet, then I noticed the awkward way he was holding onto her and realized that they hadn't. Pushing my way through the snow, I arrived at their side. Jessica was as white as the snow with dark bruises under her eyes; it took her several moments to focus on my face and she swayed dizzily.

"We cannot stay here," yelled Boromir, somewhere to my left. "It will be the death of the Hobbits and the women!"

Another cough wracked my body then, as if to add emphasis to this. Jessica stumbled forward, "we are not weak!" She declared feebly, but the effort seemed to weaken her and she swayed leaning back against Aragorn once more.

"If we cannot pass over the mountain, let us go under it. Let us go through the mines of Moria"

We turned to look expectantly at Gandalf, who seemed lost in a memory. "Let the ring bearer decide."

Frodo looked at each of us, and another wet cough shook my body. This seemed to make up his mind, "we will go through the mines."

"So be it."

~oooOOOOOooo~

We were half way down the mountain, and the air was as cold as ever and the snow pelted against our skin. I could see Jessi was fading in and out of consciousness as we made our way back down. Boromir was slowly helping her walk and every so often she would lose sight and fall. Boromir sighed and lifted Jessi up from the snow packed ground, holding her tightly in his arms.

I looked to Gandalf, "Gandalf, we cannot go any further down the mountain! Jessica's health is declining rapidly. We must make camp for the night!"

Gandalf looked at the other companions and they all nodded in agreement. "We will camp here for the remainder of the night."

We laid out our bed rolls and huddled close together. When suddenly Aragorn leapt to his feet. "How the wind howls!" he cried. "It is the howling of wolf-voices."

Jessica awoke from what seemed like a very long nap and whispered into the air just loud enough for the others to hear, "werewolves…we are surrounded," and she fell back to unconsciousness.

Boromir rushed to her side with his hand draped across her forehead, I heard him whisper to himself, "She has a fever…"

Aragorn began to shout, "The Warg's have come west of the mountain!" Boromir looked to Aragorn and left Jessi's side to aid him in building a defense for our camp.

Our defense throughout the night was a small hill under which we had been sheltering. It was crowned with a knot of old and twisted trees, about which lay a broken circle of boulder-stones. In the midst of this we lit a fire, for there was no hope that darkness and silence would keep our trail from discovery by the hunting packs.

We gathered around the fire, and those of us that were not busy guarding our camp struggled to sleep. I could hear the howling of the wolves as it was now all around us, sometimes nearer and sometimes further off. In the dead of night many shining eyes were seen peering over the brow of the hill. Some advanced almost to the ring of stones. At the gap in the circle a great dark wolf-shape could be seen halted, gazing at us. A shuddering howl broke from him, as if he were a captain summoning his pack to assault. I awoke from my half-sleep to find Legolas leaning towards me, "Stay with the Hobbits and Jessica, the wolves have approached camp."

Gandalf stood and strode forward, holding his staff aloft. "Listen, Hound of Saruman!" He cried, "Gandalf is here. Fly if you value your foul skin! I will shrivel you from tail to snout, if you come within this ring."

The wolf snarled at Gandalf's threat and attacked. I stood protectively over Jess's body as the men battled the wolves, killing many. Gandalf cast a spell and the ring of trees around us caught fire and the wolves fled. I sighed and sat on my bed roll, "I have a feeling that won't be the last of Saruman's spies we see."

Legolas came to my side and placed his hand on my back, "Do not worry My Lady, please get a good night's rest, for tomorrow we have a long ways to travel." Kissing my forehead he laid me back against the rock and I slowly drifted back to sleep.

In the morning the bodies of the wolves were gone, _werewolves indeed. _ The others and I quickly ate and continued our journey back down from the mountain to the Mines of Moria.

~oooOOOOOooo~

Hours had passed and out came a gasp from Gimli, "The walls…of Moria!"

"Dwarf doors are invisible when closed."

Gandalf glanced towards Gimli and said, "Yes, Gimli, their own masters cannot find them, if their secrets are forgotten."

Legolas was standing beside me and chuckled, "Why doesn't that surprise me?" Nudging my side trying to get me to laugh with him; I just put a slight smile on my face. Gimli made a grumbled noise but said nothing. I heard a splash and turned around. Frodo had slipped, his foot splashing into the pool of dark water behind the rock face. I stared as the water continued to ripple. _Hm…Something is not right about this._ Chills raced up my back as I turned toward Gandalf who was running his hand along the wall walls of Moria

Gandalf hesitated and said, "Now…let's see, Ithildin." We watched as beneath his hand run spidery silver lines, faint beneath the dirt of ages. "Harrumph, it mirrors only starlight…and moonlight." He looked up at the black night sky; the moon appeared. Framed by the shadows of the two trees, the silvery lines began to grow brighter; outlining a door and forming two columns beneath an arch with a star in the center. Writing in a strange language appeared in the arch. Gimli stared in awe at the gate of his forefathers. Gandalf explained, pointing with his gnarled staff, "It reads here, the Doors of Durin - Lord of Moria. Speak, friend, and enter."

Merry looking bewildered asked, "What does it mean?"

Gandalf sighed and said, "Oh, it's quite simple. If you are a friend, you speak the password, and the doors will open." Placing his staff against the illuminated star he said, "Annon Edhellen, edro hi ammen!" Nothing happened. He shook his body a little raising his hands, "Fennas Nogothrim, lasto beth lammen." Still nothing. "I once knew every spell in Orc, Elven, and man," said Gandalf shaking his head in defeat.

"What are you going to do then?" Questioned Pippin.

Gandalf looked at Pippin and said, "Knock your head against these doors, Peregrine Took! And if that does not shatter them, and I am allowed a little peace from foolish questions, I will try to find the opening words."

Time continued to pass, Gandalf still searching for the right words to unlock the doors. "Ando Eldarinwa…a lasta quettanya, Fenda Casarinwa…"

I turned to look at Sam and Aragorn, whom had set Jessica against the rock face, as they led Bill away from the mines. _Poor Sam, he loved that pony. _I looked towards the water and saw Merry and Pippin tossing stones into the now rippling water.

"Do not disturb the water," Aragorn said in a stern voice.

"OH IT IS USELESS!" Gandalf shouted removing his hat from his head and sitting next to Frodo.

I watched Frodo stand up, as if he was reading the words on the stone. "It's a riddle," he said, Gandalf now looking up to him, "Speak friend and enter! Gandalf, what's the elvish word for friend?"

"Mellon," uttered Gandalf.

The water continued to ripple; Boromir, who now carried a semi-conscious Jessica, and the rest of us watched, not noticing that the doors to Moria were opened. Following Gandalf into the mine, I turned to see that Aragorn was last to follow, eyes still watching the continuing rippling water. I felt a hand press against my back and moved forward.

The chamber was black, I couldn't see past my face. I searched for something to grab a hold of and found a hand. Legolas. I sighed with relief. Grasping his hand we took several more steps. Gandalf placed a clear crystal atop his staff.

I could hear Gimli say, "Soon, Master Elf, you will enjoy the hospitality o' the Dwarves! Roarin' fires, malt beer, ripe meat off the bone. This, my frien', is the home o' my cousin, Balin." Gimli laughed, "An' they call it a mine, a mine!"

Gandalf blew onto the crystal and lit up the chamber.

"This is no mine, it's a tomb!" Said Boromir under his breath.

Gimli began to cry no into the tomb, I looked all around the chamber to see dwarven men laid about the floors and against the walls, rotting with arrows piercing their chests and limbs. Legolas bent over and broke off an arrow from a corpse, "GOBLINS!"

Aragorn and Boromir, who was trying to hold onto a screaming Jessica, withdrew their swords and began to back out towards the entrance.

"We make for the Gap of Rohan. We should never have come here. Now get out of here, get out!"

The hobbits all backed together moved towards the exit, the rest of us following them. The water began to stir behind us. I looked to Frodo and our eyes caught site of each other. I could see the fear dancing in them. Frodo fell to the ground. _What the hell?_ Frodo screamed as he was being dragged out of the door and lifted into the air by a tentacle. Everyone screamed for Frodo, the hobbits had a hold of the Ring Bearer but the beast in the water launched a tentacle out from the water knocking them back on their butts. Frodo was now hanging over the water and flung in every direction. Legolas strung an arrow and aimed, it pierced a tentacle covering Frodo's face.

Aragorn and Boromir rushed into the water with their swords chopping at the beasts limps. The monster continued to thrash Frodo wildly in the air; despite everyone's efforts Frodo was lowered closer to the water and the monster's mouth appeared full of razor sharp teeth. It looked as if it were an ancient wild kraken of some sort. Aragorn sliced through the tentacle holding the Hobbit, causing Frodo to fall into the hands of Boromir.

Gandalf screamed, "Into the mines!"

We all ran. I had to grab Jessica who had fallen back into unconsciousness. Aragorn saw me struggling and lifted Jessi from the ground carrying her into the mine.

Boromir turned to where Legolas was standing aiming his bow and arrow," LEGOLAS!"

Legolas still stood.

"Into the cave! Run!" Yelled Aragorn.

Legolas released the arrow which pierced the beast in the eye. The beast began to roar and thrash wildly in the water. He ran towards the mine as the tentacles shot out from the water. The monster latched onto the Mine doors and rocks began to fall, our only exit was now blocked.

I could hear everyone gasping for air, but I could not see the chamber.

I heard a rumbled from in front of me, "We now have but one choice, we must face the long dark of Moria. Be on your guard. There are older and fouler things than Orcs, in the deep places of the world. Quietly now. It's a four-day journey to the other side. Let us hope that our presence may go unnoticed." Gandalf's staff illuminated with light and he began to walk.

I took a step and I felt something stab into my gut, I fell over and a wrenching deep pain came from within me. I held my stomach and vomited onto the stone floor, there was blood. I was falling forward when the hand of Boromir caught me from falling. His grey eyes looked into my blue ones. They were calm and calculating. He ran his hand through my hair and down my body looking for any type of injuries. _Ow_, Boromir's hand had nicked something on my stomach. He moved his hand to his face where they were dripping with blood.

"How…?" Boromir said.

I could feel myself falling into darkness. A stone cold voice spoke to me, "My dear child, it's good to see you're here back where you belong. No longer are you hidden from me. I gave you the wound in your belly while you journeyed Caradhras as a warning sign of what's to come if you do not seek to find me, if some part of your mind yearns to find me, I will allow Gandalf heal you."

I gasped for air and fell back into the dark.

**Jessica's P.O.V.:**

Darkness surrounded me, filled me. It was all I could do to ignore the voices, sometimes speaking separately like a babbling brook and at others joining together to make one solid avalanche like rumble. My body was weak, sick, and I could not move, barely possessing the strength to warn the Fellowship of the wolves before drifting back into darkness, the voices once more claiming me.

…_Drift…_

I was tired, so very tired. But someone was whispering to me, not one of the Haunting Voices but someone real, solid. It kept me tethered to this world, kept me fighting.

_…Drift…_

We were no longer on the mountain, and I felt stronger, warmer. Able to open my eyes for the first time in seemed like an eternity. Aragorn's blurry face was above mine, his arms holding my limp body bridal style. I sighed contentedly knowing that even though we were still not speaking he was a skilled healer, and he would take care of me.

"…Mines of Moria," a deep voice said, my mind was too fogged to make out whose voice it was.

Aragorn looked down, having heard my sigh. "You're awake," the relief in his eyes becoming evident once my eyes focused.

"Don't…rocks…Watcher…" I groaned, breathing deeply to settle my whirling thoughts. Aragorn set me back against the Mines stone wall, brushing the back of his hand across my forehead and checking the pulse in my neck. I could hear Gandalf in the background, his voice echoing, and I became desperate. Slowly, my leg muscles protesting, I stood.

"Hold on there," Aragorn grabbed hold of my shoulders, "you still have a fever, you should rest." He tried to make me sit again but I weakly brushed him off.

"No," I rasped, taking a step forward. "Stones…the Watcher…get into the Mines!"

Seeing that I was not going to listen to him, Aragorn looked around and noticed Merry and Pippin tossing rocks into the murky lake. Giving me look that said 'stay here' he moved off to stop them. But I didn't listen, forcing my legs to work, to move, each step bringing me closer to the doors. I heard Frodo ask what the elfish word for friend was, heard Gandalf rumble 'Mellon'. The doors swung open.

I was air borne, being carried bridal style once more. "You're awake," said Boromir, his thumb stroked my arm. "And moving, how are you feeling?"

I shook my head, we were in the Mines and Gimli was talking about how we would soon be enjoying the dwarf's hospitality. The smell, my god the smell! Corpses lay scattered on the ground each one in different stages of decomposition, with arrows sticking out of their chests and heads, some of them torn apart. I groaned, squirming out of Boromir's arms.

"This is no Mine, it's a tomb."

"Goblins!" Legolas cried, drawing his bow.

Boromir made to grab me, reaching for his sword at the same time. "We make for the Gap of Rohan. We should never have come here. Now get out of here, get out!"

I smacked his arm away, screaming. "Into the Mines!" Just as Frodo crashed to the floor. Boromir let me go, running to now help Frodo his blade slashing at the Watchers many limbs. Katie was now at my side, her arms holding me up, eyes wide watching the bloody battle outside the doors. And I drifted, body slumping heavily against hers.

_No. Fight. Must wake up. Must…_Someone was carrying me again, Aragorn, but he wasn't paying attention to me.

Legolas rushed to Katie's now prone body, blood stained her tunic. Legolas helped Boromir lay her gently onto the floor. "Gandalf…" Legolas said in a soft voice, "What has happened to her, she did not obtain this injury from the beast in the lake." His eyes moving back and forth, hoping for some answers.

"It's Saruman; he now knows she is back." Gandalf crouched by her side, lifting the edge of her tunic to see the wound. "He's cast a dark spell upon her, making a wound in her belly. I must reverse the spell before it kills her."

Gandalf began to chant, but I could not hear him. Blood roared in my ears, deafening, crippling. _Katie, wake up! Don't leave me! Katie!_ I did not realize I was screaming her name until Aragorn covered my mouth, and by then I had passed back into oblivion.


	9. Chapter 9

**This chapter is told solely through Jessica's P.O.V.**

**Disclaimer:**

I do not own LOTR.

But I do own Jessica.

Katie owns herself.

**Thank you everyone for the reviews, =] Katie and I greatly appreciate it! **

**To my fellow Boromir lovers, don't hate me too much at the end of the chapter.**

**We are also sorry for the delay between posts. We've both been busy with work and I have had a little trouble finding my muse.**

**~oooOOOooo~**

**Chapter Nine:**

I regained my strength quickly, refusing to allow myself to remain sick when my friend lay unconscious and wounded in an elf's arms. There were still times when I'd push myself too hard and one of the men had to carry me, but I did not complain because it made my recovery faster. Internally, I thanked whatever deity was listening for my amazing recovery rate, but at the same time cursing them for not protecting Katie.

_Katie…_She lay sleeping in Legolas arms, he alone carried her setting her down only when we'd make camp. It was annoying, and sweet, and I wanted to throttle him, and thank him for watching over her. Reaching out, I placed my hand momentarily on her knee, _God, I'm so sorry Katie. Please wake up. Please…_She slumbered on.

Someone had placed their hand my back, Boromir. Pulling me into a tight hug, he rubbed my back in broad circular motions trying in vain to transmit comfort. But it did not help and I sobbed into his tunic, whispering that it was my fault, that if we hadn't gone up that stupid mountain she'd be fine, she'd be here. And he listened, wrapping both arms securely around my body.

Several hours later, after climbing an alarmingly steep stairwell, we stopped. Three doorways stood ahead of us, Gandalf eyed each of them cynically. "I have no memory of this place." The company took that as a sign to break. Legolas lay Katie down, checking her wound, and Aragorn joined them. Knowing that she was well taken care of, I set my pack against the wall and went to peer down the stairwell that we had just climbed. Gollum had not yet appeared, and I sighed in relief, the stress of the climb slipping away in that one gust of air. Returning to my pack, I sat back against the wall watching the two male figures working over Katie's limp body.

I must have drifted off because the next thing I knew, Aragorn was kneeling at my side his hand pressed to my forehead. "You are still warm," he commented, "but recovering at an astonishing rate."

I shrugged, "I'm a quick healer."

Grunting in response, he sat back against the wall next to me pulling out his pipe and packing it with tobacco.

"Will she be okay?"

He did not respond right away, lighting his piping and taking a long pull. "Gandalf and I have done all we can, the rest is up to her now. She has slept far longer than she should have but her heart beat is strong."

We sat in silence for a long while, listening instead to the Hobbits speaking amongst themselves, Sam was using my iPod to watch Homeward Bound. _How that damned thing is still working is beyond me._ Frodo had just noticed Gollum climbing the stairwell and rushed to Gandalf's side, his harsh whispers carrying in the large cavern though you could not discern what he'd said. There was little time between now and the Balrog's appearance and I wondered if Gandalf knew that he'd not make it out of the Mine alive and, if he did not know, whether or not I should warn him.

_Searing heat, voice like that of a roaring fire. The crack of a whip, and Gandalf falling. "Fly, you fools."_

Aragorn mumbled something, wrenching me from my dark thoughts. "What?"

"I said," he turned to look at me, "you look deep in thought."

_Buddy, you have no idea. _Fingering the fraying edges of my tunic, I nodded. "There are many things on my mind."

He did not reply, seeming to understand that I needed a moment to collect my thoughts. Patiently he waited.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, meeting his grey eyes. "For everything, Aragorn."

He stared at me, his storm cloud grey eyes searching my own honey-brown. The book often referred to his gaze being deep, soul searching, and I'd heard of many people that bore this trait but none more so than Aragorn. It felt as though everything lay bare; my sins, worries, and hopes plain for him to see.

Slowly, Aragorn reached out to grab my hands, his much larger ones engulfing mine. "No Jessica," he squeezed my fingers, eyes turning from their usual stormy hue to a soft dove grey. "I am sorry, never in all my years had I expected something like this to happen and I acted despicably. Forgive me, little one."

"There is nothing to forgive," I said, pulling him into a tight hug. A split ray of happiness breaking through the darkness, _my brother…_

"Oh! It's that way." Gandalf strode over to the door on the far left.

Merry jumped up, "He's remembered!"

"No, but the air doesn't smell so foul down here." We gathered our things quickly, and followed the wizard through the doorway.

He rested his hand on the Hobbits shoulder, "If in doubt, Meriadoc, always follow your nose."

I sniffed the air, and looked down at Pippin. "Still smells like dust and rotting meat too me." He didn't seem to know whether to laugh or be disgusted.

The wizard was leaning upon his walking stick, and breathing heavily when we had finally reached the top of the stairs. The tight feel of the stairwell lessoned, opening up into an enormous cavern with large carved stones lying across the floor.

Hefting his staff, Gandalf said, "Let me risk a little more light."

His staff illuminated a grandiose hall of stone lined with tall pillars and arched ceilings as far as the eye can see. "Behold: the great realm and Dwarf city of Dwarrowdelf." The Fellowship gaped, the dark halls rimmed with a silver light from Gandalf's staff. Gimli gasped the sound carrying throughout the extensive chamber.

"Now there's an eye opener and no mistake." Sam muttered his eyes wide and jaw hanging open.

The Fellowship continued forward through the hall, peering around a column. Gimli's breath caught, and he ran towards a ray of sunlight shining through a chamber where corpses lay scattered.

"Gimli!" Gandalf called out to the dwarf.

But Gimli ignored the wizard and ran into the chamber, followed closely by the rest of us. The chambers walls were scarred and broken, with more bodies and weapons scattered about. The Dwarf stopped, kneeling by a crypt in the center of the room where a shaft of light spilled down, illumining it. Gandalf strode forward, peering at the tomb's surface.

"Here lies Balin, son of Fundin, Lord of Moria." He translated, sighing sadly. "He is dead then. It's as I feared."

Gimli wailed, bowing his head against the tomb. Boromir moved forward, placing his hand on Gimli's shoulder who was now chanting in dwarfish.

I shifted uncomfortably as Gandalf handed his staff and hat to Pippin, and bent down to pull a large and battered book from a skeletons grasp. He opened it, clearing the dirt from its pages, and reading.

Legolas, still carrying Katie, whispered to Aragorn, "We must move on, we cannot linger."

Gandalf began to read aloud, "They have taken the bridge…and the second hall." Gimli at this point had stopped sobbing, and looked up at the Wizard. "We have barred the gates…but cannot hold them for long. The ground shakes." Pippin began to back away, eyes widening in fear. I watched him intently, knowing what would happen next, dreading it. "Drums...drums…in the deep."

Gandalf looked up slowly, turning the smudged, bloodstained page. The Fellowship began to shift uncomfortably, their eyes weary. I drifted towards Legolas, picking up a small battle axe. "We cannot get out. A shadow moves in the dark."

Pippin stumbled back slightly, brushing gently against a corpse sitting upon a well with an arrow in its chest. He turned towards it, peering curiously at it.

"We cannot get out…" Gandalf looked up, and an uncomfortable silence fell. "They are coming!"

The silence is broken by Pippin, his curiosity having gotten the better of him; he had reached out, twisting the arrow that had been buried in the corpse. The skull fell off and into the well with a resounding crash.

Gandalf whipped around, spooked by the sudden noise. Pippin turned to face him, looking guilty and as he does, the corpse slips into the well. The noise echoed from hall to hall far below, a ricocheting noise filling the silence. The hobbit winced at every crash; silence fell once more and the Fellowship let out an audible sigh of relief.

"Fool of a Took! Throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity!" He yanked his hat and staff from Pippin's hands, who was standing there awkwardly.

**_Boom…boom._**

Gandalf and Pippin turned back slowly, staring down into the well.

**_Boom._**

"Shit!" I yelled, unable to control myself. "Legolas, put Katie down. Hobbits," I pointed at them, "stay beside her at all times!"

**_Boom-boom._**

Terror began to creep onto their faces, and they remained frozen.

**_Boom-boom-boom._**

I was furious, clinging to the battle-axe tightly. "Damn it! What's the point in bringing me along if you won't fucking listen?!"

Like a heartbeat, it began again. **_Boom-boom-boom-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM…_**

"Frodo!" Sam cried, staring at his friend's sword which was now glowing blue.

"Orcs!" Legolas yelled, laying Katie's unconscious form against the far wall. And I took my place standing protectively above her, legs spread in a fighting stance and battle-axe at the ready.

Boromir rushed to the doors peering out, and barely managed to pull back in time as arrows hissed into the doors. The Fellowship drew out their weapons. Aragorn ran towards Boromir, yelling at the Hobbits to stay near Gandalf and Katie. Together, he and Boromir worked the doors shut, a bellow could be heard just outside.

"They have a cave troll," said Boromir dryly as he, Aragorn, and Legolas barricaded the door. They jumped back, drawing their weapons once more.

Gimli leapt atop Balin's tomb and brandished his axe."Aarrgghhh! Let 'em come! Thar is one Dwarf ye' in Moria 'oo still draws breath!"

There was pounding outside and many creatures began breaking the doors down. Weapons crashed through splintering areas. Legolas and Aragorn stood poised, ready to shoot; the Hobbits were also ready, though fear clouded their eyes. The first clear gap was gashed in the door and Legolas shot — a shrill cry rang out. The Elf notched another arrow to his bow as Aragorn shot another.

Suddenly, the beasts broke through and the battle began. A wave of armor-clad Orcs charged the Fellowship. Aragorn and Legolas pierced Orcs with their arrows while Boromir smashed another with his sword; Gimli caught one in the stomach. With a roar, Gandalf launched himself into the fray, and the Hobbits followed suit.

I continued to stand over Katie, trying in vain to ignore the death cries and smell of blood. An Orc rushed forward, eyes set on what It undoubtedly thought were easy targets. It laughed, swinging Its sword towards my neck which I barely blocked with the handle of my axe. The Orc frowned, drawing Its sword back once more. But I was faster, slamming the blade of my weapon into Its stomach. It looked up, astonished, as I pulled my axe free and his intestines spilled forth. The Orc fell dead at my feet.

"Jessica – One. Orc – Zero." I laughed manically, slashing another Orc across the head. One got passed me; It was touching Katie's feet, jerking her body closer to It. My vision turned red, "Don't you dare touch her!" I screeched, swinging the axe with all my might into the Orcs spine. It gurgled, falling to the side Its body cleaved nearly in half.

Then the Cave Troll smashed through the doorway, chains leading from his wrists to an Orc's hand. Legolas shot it in the shoulder; the beast growled and swung its mace down at Sam— he dove under the troll's legs and crawled away as the troll turned, finding him once again.

The beast raised his arm to strike again when, suddenly, he fell back. Aragorn and Boromir were behind the troll, pulling on its chains. The troll twisted its arm and smacked Boromir across the room. He landed in a recess of the wall, dazed. An Orc stood above him, ready to strike. Picking up a small throwing-axe, I threw the weapon at the Orc hitting It with a satisfactory thud. Aragorn gazed wide eyed at me for a moment, before nodding, returning to the battle. Boromir retrieved his sword and moved to help me fight the now lessening number of monsters.

Standing upon the tomb of Balin, Gimli slung an axe, piercing the troll's shoulder near Legolas's arrow. The troll swung his mace into the tomb, shattering it and knocking the Dwarf off. Gandalf rushed towards the Dwarf's side, dragging him back onto his feet.

My arms began to tire; each swing of the heavy axe sapping the remaining strength from my limbs. In the distance I could hear Frodo calling for help, a new surge of energy filled me because I knew this battle was almost over.

Gandalf and Gimli were taking turns stabbing at the troll and dodging out of range. Legolas took aim, and with Pippin stabbing the troll one more time in the head, the troll opened its mouth. Legolas delivered the deathblow, shooting his arrow up into its brain through the mouth of the troll.

The troll stopped fighting, reaching up with its hand towards its mouth where the arrow was. It stares upward, shocked, and with a long, pained moan, it collapsed to the ground. There was a moment of silence. All Orcs being either dead or have fled.

Dropping the bloodied axe, I turned back to Katie; I tore a piece of cloth from my tunic and tied her hands together. Looping her arms around my neck, I heaved her up onto my back and held onto her legs. "He's not dead," I called out to the shell-shocked group huddled around Frodo's limp form.

They turned to look at me as if I was crazy, but just then Frodo coughed. I rolled my eyes at their gasps of astonishment. "Yeah, yeah, yeah," I shifted Katie's weight. "He has a Mithril shirt on. Now let's get the fuck out of here!"

Wasting no time, we gathered our things once more raced out into the hall. "To the Bridge of Khazad-dûm!" Yelled Gandalf, as we ran out of the rear door of the chamber into a high, ornate hall of pillars. The Fellowship was closely pursued by an army of Orcs. Other Orcs sprang out from the floor or crawled from the ceiling and down the pillars, like spiders. They surround us, and the men drew their weapons outward in a circle. The Orcs snarled and leered at the frightened faces of the Hobbits.

Just then, a fiery light appeared at the end of the hall followed by a thunderous rumble. The Orcs fled, panicking, in all directions. We were alone.

"What is this new devilry?" Boromir asked, stepping forward.

Not waiting for Gandalf's answer, I ran. "Run for your lives," I tossed over my shoulder, "It's a Balrog!"

The Fellowship quickly caught up with me, Katie's added weight wearing down on my last reserves of strength as we dashed down a flight of steps. The flight ended in a missing segment, and Boromir nearly fell into fire below but Legolas pulled him back. The Hobbits and I both, stop short of falling in as well.

"Legolas," I removed Katie's arms from around my neck, "You must carry her!" He nodded, looping her arms around his neck. "Protect her with your life or else I'll kill you myself!"

The Balrog roared, beating against the wall blocking us from view. One by one, we leapt across the gap in the staircase, and continued to descend the flight of stairs. The Balrog's rumbles tore through the wall behind us the foundation splintered and crumbled, sending huge rocks tumbling into the darkness below.

A wall of flame whirled behind us. "Over the bridge! Fly!" Gandalf yells, turning back to the wall of fire. We ran, a narrow bridge of stone appearing in the fiery light, and the Fellowship quickly crossed.

I turned; a great form of black shadow that rippled like molten lava leapt through the flames, its eyes were of white flame, great ash-black horns curling around a bull-like head. It opened its jaw, and rippling heat poured out with a rumble. A large cloven foot stomped down into the hall, bursting into flame. _Oh my god…_I gasped, eyes wide with fear as I beheld the monster of my nightmares.

"You cannot pass!" Cried Gandalf holding his staff high, casting a protective barrier that shielded him from the Giant whom heaved its arm upward, a sword of fire forming in its hand. "I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the Flame of Anor. The dark fire will not avail you, Flame of Udun!" The Beast sniffed, striking down on Gandalf, whose protective barrier blocks the blow. "Go back to the shadow!" A strip of flame burst from the Daemon's mouth as it stepped onto the bridge. The beast brandishes a flaming whip. "You shall not pass!" Gandalf roared, thumping the bridge with his staff. A blinding sheet of white flame sprung up and the bridge crumbled and dropped away, taking the Beast with it. Gandalf grunted, turning away from the falling Daemon only to hear a crack of thunder the end of its whip lashed out and curled around Gandalf's foot, dragging him over the edge. He barely hung on by his fingertips.

"Gandalf!" Frodo dashed forward, but Boromir caught him in time. He held the Hobbit tightly.

Aragorn dashed forward next; he'd made it halfway to the wizard when Gandalf stopped struggling. "Fly, you fools," he gasped, before letting go.

I screamed as he fell and time seemed to slow; I could hear the pounding of my heart, the flow of blood in my veins. Gone was the knowledge that Gandalf would return, how could he return after this.

To my right Frodo was thrashing in Boromir's arms, he had picked up the Hobbit and was yelling at Aragorn. But Aragorn was frozen, the blood drained from his face and a look of shock, pain, and confusion marred his features. Reaching out, I grabbed his arm and pulled him back as Orc arrows sailed by us.

The Fellowship emerged from the Mines into the stark brightness of the day, blinding us. Everyone is distraught. Sam sat on the ground, head onto his hands, weeping. Merry was consoling Pippin, who lay crying. Boromir tried to restrain Gimli, as the Dwarf vented out his rage and sorrow. Legolas, having set the now conscious Katie upon the ground, wore a look of shock and disbelief.

_Katie, awake. _I rushed to her side, tossing both arms tightly around her shoulders. I wept, stroking her sweat dampened hair, streaking it with the Orc blood that stained my hands.

"You!" Someone shoved me roughly backward, my hands scraping against the grovel. Boromir stood above me, glaring accusingly. "You knew! You knew that he would fall _and you did nothing!_"

Everyone was watching now, I could feel their eyes boring into my skin; their grief, their confusion, and now their condemning glares. "You don't understand," voice hoarse from crying, from screaming out his name. I stood, back rigid, "he had to fall!"

This was met with disbelief. _SMACK! _My head jerked back, cheek erupting with pain. Boromir stepped back; a look of astonishment of what he'd just done filled his slate-gray eyes momentarily before fading once more into an accusing mask. "Had to happen?" He questioned, laughing dryly. "Just like Katie's injury had to happen?" He turned his back upon me and walked away.

Aragorn cleaned his blade, slipping it back into its sheath. "Legolas, get them up."

"Give them a moment, for pity's sake!"

He shook his head, "By nightfall these hills will be swarming with Orcs! We must reach the woods of Lothlórien. Come, Boromir, Legolas, Gimli, get them up."

Legolas came towards us, seeming almost reluctant to be within even a mile of me. He scooped Katie up once more and moved quickly away. Everyone else was moving, shoulders hunched with grief. I remained where I was, a coldness stealing over my heart as I turned to look at Aragorn. He met my eye for a split second, before setting his jaw stubbornly and looking away.

Something seemed to break within me as I watched his retreating back; not so much a broken heart but as if something had died. I could not cry, could not feel, could hardly breathe. I'd lost whatever chance I'd had of having a relationship with my brother, my friend was still weak and being carried around by a prancing elf whom wanted nothing to do with me, and Boromir, the man who had tethered me to this world when I was sick, hated me. I broke.


	10. Chapter 10

**Alright, this is going to be a long chapter because we're condensing the entire Lorien scene into one chapter. Ugh. So, in this chapter you will be learning a little more about Katie's background, you'll get a few peeks of the discord that's spreading through the Fellowship, and there is an awesome scene of Jessica telling Galadriel off (I don't care for Galadriel, sorry ya'll). Enjoy.**

**~oooOOOOOooo~**

**Disclaimer:**

I do not own LOTR or the song "I'm Still Here" by James Newton Howard (Treasure Planet)

I own Jessica and a gym membership.

Katie owners herself (a.k.a. Tari) and...uhh...an iPhone.

**~oooOOOooo~**

**Chapter 10  
**

**Katie's P.O.V.:  
**

A shudder passed through my body. "Wha-" Jessi ran to me embracing me tightly, she rocked us back and forth, her tears leaking into my grimy hair.

"You!" Yelled Boromir, yanking Jessica from my arms and throwing her back towards the ground. "You knew! You knew that he would fall and you did nothing!"

_What does he mean, you knew? What's going on…? _

Jessi, holding back tears, voice cracking, "You don't understand, he had to fall!"

I watched as Boromir's hand moved towards her face, smacking her cheek. He looked shocked at what he had done; he stepped back, looking at his hand. "Had to happen?" Laughing he continued, "Just like Katie's injury had to happen?" He began to walk away from where Jessi and I lay.

I watched Aragorn as he cleaned his blade, placing it back into its sheath, "Legolas, get them up."

Boromir yelled, still distraught, "Give them a moment for pity's sake!"

Aragorn shaking his head, "By nightfall these hills will be swarming with Orcs, we must reach the woods of Lothlorien. Come Boromir, Legolas, Gimli, get them up."

I watched as Legolas moved towards me, he moved hesitantly, lifting me up, and moving quickly away from Jessica. Everyone moved together, their shoulders hunched in grief. But Jess still sat upon the rocks, staring off into space.

We were running now, through fields of grass and into dark woods. There were trees so tall, much taller than any I had ever seen, they were covered with moss and golden leaves fell, dancing in the breeze.

"Stay close, young Hobbits! They say that a great sorceress lives in these woods, an Elf-witch, of terrible power. All who look upon her, fall under her spell…" Said Gimli looking off into the woods wearily.

Legolas, still carrying me, rolled his eyes at the comment. "Where are we?" I whispered into his ear, gazing around in wonder.

In elvish he spoke, "Lothlorien My Lady, we can be protected here."

"Where is Gandalf?" I looked deep into his eyes, searching his soul for answers.

Sorrow washed over his face, "He has fallen."

I felt a sting in my stomach, "No," I let the word flow from my mouth smoothly with a hint of hurt. I didn't bother to ask for I could see it was too much pain for him to bear.

"And are never seen again!" Continued Gimli, "Well, here is one Dwarf she won't ensnare so easily. I have the eyes of a hawk and the ears of-"

"Haldir!" Everyone turned to glare at Jessica, the expression on her face frightened me. She reminded me of a statue; with dulled eyes, stony facial expression, and even her voice lacked emotion. "Come out now."

"Oh!" Declared Gimli, looking away from Jessica in disgust and coming face to face with an arrow.

Just then more arrows pointed in our faces. Legolas continued to hold me in his arms, glaring into the eyes of, _other elves?_

A tall, golden haired elf appeared, walking between two other elves, "The dwarf breathes so loud, we could have shot him in the dark." Cooling ignoring Jessica's outburst.

Gimli snared in disgust.

" Mae govannen, Legolas Thranduilion" Said the golden haired elf.

I looked to Legolas who spoke back to him, "Govannas vîn gwennen le, Haldir o Lórien."

Turning to look at the elf, whom I now knew to be Haldir; I shifted my weight and glanced at Legolas, motioning for him to let me stand on my own. He nodded and let me place my feet on the ground, my knees quivered trying to hold myself up. Grabbing Legolas's shoulder I was able to hold my balance on my own. I looked at Haldir and said in flawless Sindarin, "Mae govannen, Katie eneth nin. Boe ammen veriad lin."

Everyone looked at me, shocked, except Jessica whose face remained blank. Haldir glared at me, his blue-eyes darkened. Aragorn stepped forward then, "Haldir o Lorien."

The stoic elf turned his attention from me to the Ranger. "A, Aragorn in Dúnedain istannen le ammen."

"So much for the legendary courtesy of the Elves! Speak words we can also understand!" Said Gimli in a gruff tone.

Haldir turned to look at the dwarf in annoyance, "We have not had dealings with the Dwarves since the Dark Days."

"And you know what this Dwarf says to that? Ishkhaqwi ai durugnul!" He snarled, glaring up at the haughty Elf.

Aragorn elbowed him, "that was not so courteous."

Haldir looked to Frodo, eyeing the Hobbit with distaste. "You bring great evil with you. You can go no further."

Aragorn argued with Haldir for several hours before the Elf walked back to us; he looked unhappy and a tad frazzled. "Follow me."

Following Haldir, Legolas helped me walk through the forest floor. Behind the mists, under sunset, a great glade of trees rose above the world, green and gold, rays of light drifting from the branches of trees. It was simply breathtaking.

"Caras Galadhon...the heart of Elvendom on earth. Realm of the Lord Celeborn and of Galadriel, Lady of Light," Haldir said, giving us only moments to admire the scene before continuing to walk.

Arriving at Caras Galadhon, we climbed a winding way among the great trees as the last rays of evening sun streaming through their trunks. We ascended the path until night fall. In the blue glow of a moonlit night, we climbed a twisting stair about the trunk of a tree, past glimmering lights of silver and blue. Far above, the silhouetted shapes of the shadowy tree-branches loom. Passing numerous platforms, we come to a great palace in the trees, lit with silvery lights. A curving walkway lay before us that lead up a low stair to an archway. Slowly, we gathered before the arch as Haldir stepped to one side, and looked up. With a glow issuing forth from them, two elves one male and the other female, descend to meet us, hand in hand. I looked at the others who stared in awe, except for Jessica who looked ahead of her as if seeing everything yet nothing.

I turned my head, looking over at Haldir as he watched The Lord and Lady walk down the steps. He turned to glance at me for just a moment; his eyes flickered in the light before he turned away to face the two Rulers of the Wood.

"The Enemy knows you have entered here. What hope you had in secrecy is now gone. Ten there are here, yet eleven there were, set out from Rivendell. Tell me, where is Gandalf? For I much desire to speak with him...I can no longer see him from afar." Lord Celeborn looking towards us for an answer.

It was Galadriel who spoke first, "Gandalf the Grey did not pass the borders of this land," sadness slowly took place on her face, "he has fallen into shadow."

Legolas, lightly touching my hand, looked to Galadriel, "He was taken by both Shadow and Flame: a Balrog of Morgoth. For we went needlessly into the net of Moria." I gripped his hand tightly as the words flowed from his tongue and out his mouth. I felt my stomach tighten and my heart began to race.

"Needless were none of the deeds of Gandalf in life. We do not yet know his whole purpose. Do not let the great emptiness of Khazad-dûm fill your heart," Galadriel turned to face me, "For the world has grown full of peril. And in all lands, love is now mingled with grief."

"What now becomes of this Fellowship? Without Gandalf, hope is lost."

Galadriel looks ahead towards us all, "The quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little and it will fail to the ruin of all," I watched as the fellowship looked to Galadriel unsure of what was in store for us, "Yet hope remains while the company is true," she paused for a moment, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Go now and rest for you are weary with sorrow and much toil. Tonight you will sleep in peace."

We moved to an area that was made for us to rest, I sat on the ground carefully listening to the singing in the background.

"A lament for Gandalf," said Legolas as he moved to sit down next to me.

"What do they say about him?" Asked Merry.

"I have not the heart to tell you. For me the grief is still too near," Legolas answered. I rested my hand on his back and my head on his shoulder.

"What happened, Legolas, while I rested in Moria?" I gazed into his eyes, searching, wanting answers.

"We had reached the bridge, the Balrog had tried crossing. Gandalf stood there, preventing him from crossing the bridge," Legolas paused for a moment. I watched as his eyes began to tear up, "The Balrog stepped onto the bridge and it began to crack. It fell into the dark chasm and Gandalf turned his back from the Balrog. We all heard a crack and something had wrapped itself around his ankle pulling him off the ledge. He said, 'Fly you fools'. Letting go he fell into the darkness. The worst part…Jessi, she knew of his fate, yet she did nothing to save his life." Legolas looking at me placing his hand onto my face, "Why would she let him die if she knew his fate…Why didn't she save him?"

"Because," I paused for a moment. I needed to say this right, "Because Jessi knows of the future, if she were to interfere with something as important as that, it would alter all of history causing a totally different outcome, which could possibly mean the end of Middle-Earth as we all know it to be. She did not let him die because she was being cold; she did it because she was thinking clearly and logically. She reacted to pure instinct. I will stand by Jessica's decision because I see there to be no wrong in what she has done. I know you might not like my answer, but that is how I feel."

Legolas stared blankly at me, searching for words to say to me. Nothing came from his mouth for several moments. I looked across the small clearing to Boromir and Aragorn, whom were quietly talked amongst themselves. I moved my eyes back onto Legolas who still stared at me in shock.

"I just, don't understand," Legolas said.

"In good time, you'll see what she did was the right thing, I promise," I said as I moved my hand to his cheek, "Believe me, I would know."

A single tear broke from the lower lid of Legolas' eye. I wiped it away from his face and moved closer to him, embracing him. He didn't shed anymore tears but I could feel his soul weeping. I pulled away from him, I whispered sweet words and he smiled. He leaned forward and gently kissed my lips, pulling away he stared at me in wonder. His eyes twinkled and he motioned towards me once more placing his soft lips against mine, except this time he stayed there longer. I moved away from him and stared, I smiled and he smiled back. It was then that I realized how easy it was to fall for the elven prince.

I looked over my shoulder to see that Jessi was sitting alone by a tree, I turned back to Legolas and he nodded. I got up from where we sat and walked over to her. Her hands were in between her knees and she moved her head up, eyes meeting mine. Tears streamed down her cheeks, "Jessi…" I said as I crouched down, hugging her.

_~oooOOOooo~_

The threads linking the Fellowship together were beginning to fade, I could feel the tiny individual fibers making up the thread slowly fraying and breaking apart. There was awkwardness between the Fellowship. Myself, and Legolas seemed to be the only ones continuing their friendship with Jessi; even though Legolas seemed to struggle with the thought of being able to trust her, unsure of what she spoke was that of being honest or secretly betrayal. The hobbits seemed to be much more kind-hearted to her, but a battle constantly ravaged through them when in the presence of her. Aragorn kept to himself about his feelings towards what happened in Moria, but Boromir, he always had some kind of malicious attack against Jessi no matter where they were in Lothlorien; glares, unsightly gestures, and catty remarks were uttered.

_Cling,_ two people grunting, _cling, cling, cling._ "You've learned quickly elleth," Haldir said as he paused for a moment, eyes inquisitive, "You're strength has increased rapidly, it's quite impressive."

I stood, dagger still in my grasp, arm dangling at my side, "I've always been a fast learner March warden," a smirk pulled across my face and I prepared again for the next showdown.

"You have much to learn before you can battle elleth," Haldir said placing his sword back in his sheath, "Come and sit with me for a moment and relax, we've been working on your sword fighting skills from day-light to dusk." His attitude was a tad bit scathing at times but there were moments where his heart would lighten up and the words then would come out of his mouth more sweetly, and not so much like a venomous snake bite.

"I've never met a being that was 'half-elven' before, from where do you reside?" Haldir asked, my chartreuse eyes diving into the depths of his pure ultramarine gaze whispering to me 'come-hither'.

I did a mental face palm and said, "From Mirkwood."

"Hmm," Haldir's eyelids lowered a little, "was your father Elven?"

"No, I've been told my mother was. I do not know who my father is," _although I wish I did._

"That would explain why your fighting skills haven't come so naturally, you are not 'pureblooded'," he wore a playful look on his face until he noticed my then cheerful smile had turned into a scowl, "I am only teasing my lady. What I mean is…you're not so 'graceful' when it comes to footwork. And I suppose in normal situations you don't float gracefully either." He chuckled.

I laughed along with him, "Pick on me all you want, but I guarantee someday I'll be saving your life; whether it is 'nimble' or not."

His lips puckered up as if he'd eaten a lemon, "I quite doubt that; if anyone will be doing a rescue, it'll be me saving you from your two left feet!"

"HEY," I threw my sword to the ground and propelled myself into the air, knocking him off of the bench we were sitting on. Falling on his back I grabbed his forearms trying to hold him to the ground, but my arms quivered from him exerting force back.

For a split second I lost my strength and he grinned, flipping me onto my back and pinned me to the forest floor. "What makes you think you can beat me in hand-to-hand combat my Lady," He teased, hands still holding down my arms.

I did not respond. All of this wrestling in the dirt had…'aroused' me.

I heard a cough come from behind us; Haldir cocked his head looking behind him letting go of my arms. _Of course he'd still be sitting on top of me…_

It was Frodo; he cleared his throat again and spoke, "Lady Galadriel has requested to see you."

Haldir sat up and held out his hand to me, which I took. He lifted me up and I wiped off the dirt and leaves from my leggings and tunic. Walking over to the bench he picked up my sword and placed it into my sheath. "I will see you soon my lady," he bowed his head, kissed my knuckles and began to walk away.

I did not realize it, but I was tilting my head as I watched Haldir retreat.

Frodo cleared his throat, "My lady, this way," I turned toward him as my face was flushed red from embarrassment from being caught ogling the March warden's round buttocks.

_~oooOOOooo~_

"Will you peer into the mirror?" Galadriel spoke deep but effeminately.

I slowly walked down the stone steps to where she stood, pouring water into a large saucer atop a pedestal. I took each step hesitantly; unsure of what would happen if I looked into the liquid mirror, "What will it show me, an identical image of me…Why look if I know what I'll see." I stopped half-way through a step standing only a few feet away from her.

Her face hardened, I could see the frustration, "It will show you things that were, things that are, and…things that have yet come to pass," she paused for only a moment, "Aren't you curious to see what happened to those of whom you left behind with your other life? What about the present…I know what haunts your mind, the voices you've heard from an unknown source that started on Caradhras, and again in the Mines of Moria. And of what of your future, and that of the Fellowships fate; your mind has to somewhat subconsciously desire this knowledge, for you wouldn't of listened past my mention of the voices," She raised her hand from her side walking towards me, touching mine lightly she walked me over to the mirror and placed my hand on the saucer containing the clear liquid.

It darkened, and became murky. An image of my old home appeared. The people whom I thought were my family knew not of my existence. I never existed according to the all-knowing mirror. I saw the world crumble, people killing each other, plagues spreading quickly across all the land on earth, famine, and eventually, nothing. Then, the mirror shows the beginning of a new age, those of whom managed to survive mass destruction. They soon became what was the race of elves, dwarves, hobbits, and men. Galadriel's voice seeped into my head, "do you see now why you've been brought back to Middle-Earth?"

The water rippled the image of all the races and I saw Frodo, and all the others. I was shown the outcome of our quest if we did not interfere and then, of Jessi and I's interference. Death ravaged Middle-Earth as Mordor took all the lands. "You see the Fellowship as it was, is, and what will become of it if you interfere with the destiny of those within the Fellowship. There is though, a way of changing things in the future, without changing the original outcome. But it is for you and Jessi to discover this, for I cannot help you."

And then, an image appeared of my true mother. She was beautiful; champagne hair, sapphire eyes, and soft pink lips that which formed a small yet lovesome smile. Someone appeared next to her, a tall figure, he was not Elven but…a man. His silvery hair cascaded his shoulders and down his back, eyes a murky green color, staff grasped in his hand. Thereupon a child emerged. She was unmarred. Honeyed hair that spiraled down the frame of her tiny yet hard body, jade eyes twinkling as the man placed a hand on her shoulder and mother taking her hand in hers. "Your real name is Tári, and this is your true mother, Inwë. And your father, Saruman. He is the one whom has been speaking to you through your thoughts; the one responsible for your near death."

My body began to shake, and I fell to the ground grabbing grass into my grasp and ripped their roots from the dirt. Looking at the shreds of grass in my hands I spoke, "Saruman…is my father?" Several seconds passed, "MY FATHER?!" I screamed. "HE TRIED TO KILL ME, MY OWN FATHER!"

"Your mother's death was an accident. Your father, Saruman, watched her die as she was murdered by Orcs that had destroyed your village in Mirkwood. Saruman had abandoned you as a small child; for his grief was so much that he could not bear to look into your eyes, as you reminded him of his one, and only love. Inwë. When you were found, that's when you were sent back into the past for protection; for we had foreseen something change in Saruman. Now you are back, and the darkness did take him as we foresaw. As we also postulated, he is trying to suck you into the dark abyss that took him when he was at his weakest. You have great power that you have not known of. You can shield your mind from him by building a mental block. I will help you master this gift, but you must do this on your own once you leave the protection of Lothlorien, for my mind cannot protect you from afar." Galadriel placed her hand on my shoulder as she knelt down to meet my face, a sweet smile stretching across it.

It was all too much for me to tolerate, I began to shed tears and ran off.

I ran back to the area designated for the Fellowship and fell down onto my bed roll, hands under my pillow burying my face. I sobbed. My whole life has been a lie. I thought back to Caradhras and remembered how Legolas covered my ears, the blood that poured from my mouth in Moria. How could he do that…to his own daughter. I heard footsteps approaching me, a hand placed on my head, stroking my hair.

"What's wrong Katie?" the voice said, concern threaded through their words.

I struggled to control pain ravaging my heart, "it is for only me to know, and whoever is asking can leave."

"I'm not leaving you until you tell me what happened, I'm your best friend," coaxing me to face the voice.

I turned my head facing the direction of the voice, it was Jessi. Tears streamed down my cheeks and I forced the words to come from my mind, onto my tongue, and out of my mouth, "I was lured to where Galadriel had taken Frodo, to the all-knowing mirror. She asked if I would look into the mirror. I was hesitant," I snuffed, "but, she tricked me. She spoke of things no one has known of, pulling me into the vortex of the mirror.

I saw my family, but they knew nothing of my existence. I watched our old home be destroyed by greed and sickness. I watched the new age emerge with the reborn world; I watched them rebuild what once was annihilated. Then, I was shown the Fellowship as of now, what would become of it if we didn't interfere, and what would happen if we did. I watched as Mordor took the world, fire and death engulfed Middle-Earth. Galadriel spoke to me in my thoughts, she said, 'There is though, a way of changing things in the future, without changing the original outcome. But it is for you and Jessi to discover this, for I cannot help you.' What does she mean by this?" My eyes rummaging Jessi's for an illusory answer.

Her brows scrunched, lips pursed, "I think I know what she was telling you…I've been thinking about something for a long time now." I sat up from my bed roll, wiping away the last remaining tears on my face. "Gandalf had to fall for the story to continue, but those who will die in the future, I think we can prevent one person's death, and be able to convince others outside of the Fellowship that this person is in fact dead"

"Who will we save?" I asked, running my fingers through my honeyed ringlets, "I've noticed that for the past few weeks that you have something tormenting you when Boromir was in your proximity, something more than the constant arguing. What's going to happen to him?"

She sighed, "Boromir is going to die."

"We can do something, but I don't know of the future, you do," I touched her hand, "What must be done?"

"Boromir's fate is to die, it happened in both the book and the movie. But I plan on changing this. I will leave with Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn; you will continue the journey with Frodo and Sam, so long as the follow the river Anduin; if they leave the river side do not follow. Continue downstream until you see Faramir, who is Boromir's brother; you must persuade him to take you to Minas Tirith to his father Denethor, and convince them that Boromir is dead. If you don't, we will destroy any hope of the success of the destruction of the ring."

I thought to myself for a moment, _let the Fellowship split?_ _Leaving the others behind. Legolas…could I handle being separated from him? _"Can I at least tell Legolas what is going to happen, so that he knows?"

"He cannot know Katie, I'm sorry," Jessi laid her hand on my shoulder, "He will understand, trust me." I did not answer right away, and Jessica's eyes became frenzied. "Stay with Faramir if you want; a few days later part of the Fellowship will go to Minas Tirith. Or you can find a way to get to Rohan, but you must quick about it. You will see everyone again Katie, I promise."

"Why save him, Jess?" Images of their currently hostilities flowed through my mind; Boromir slapping her, blaming her for Gandalf's fall and my injury, and his hinting that she was plotting with Sauron.

She grimaced, honey-brown eyes glossing over with tears. "Katie, I almost died on that stupid mountain when I was sick. I could hear voices speaking to me; don't ask who's because I don't know, but they were the same voices that spoke to me back in Rivendell." She paused, looking to me intently, "remember? They told me who I was. Anyway, I heard his voice break through theirs." Jessica slammed her fist into the ground hard, "the only reason I stayed is because of him; otherwise I'd have left you all." Admitting this appeared painful for her. "Please Katie, I have to save him…"

I hesitantly nodded; we continued our discussion for several hours on what we could change and how to avoid the unraveling of the future. I got up from the ground and held out my hand to Jessi, "From now on, I would like to be called by my real birth name, Tári." I struggled trying to allow myself to say it, "Jessi…"

An inquisitive expression crossed Jessi's face, "What?"

"You have to know what else I saw in the mirror," I felt a feeling of disgust rise from in my stomach and into my throat as I spoke the words, "I was shown my real mother, she was absolutely beautiful, Galadriel told me her name was Inwë, and then the mirror cast an image of a tall man next to her, my real father, his name is…," I paused getting the courage to utter the name, "Saruman."

Her jaw fell open, eyes wide. I lowered my head in shame and began to cry again. Jessi embracing me began to speak, "It'll be okay Ka…Tári. I'll help you get through this; keep your chin up and look at the bright side; you have a friend that would and has killed for you, and an Elf Prince that has been at your side through everything, adores you, and cares for you. He worries about you constantly."

"Really?"

"I can see it in his eyes every time he looks at you," Jessi answered, turning to the soft voices that seemed to be getting closer.

A few feet away from Jessi and me, Legolas and Boromir came through a clearing. Boromir's face furrowed in disgust as they approached us, "You're still talking to this…sorceress. I would think that her betrayal..."

Jessi cut him off, "And you're still the same stubborn jackass," as she walked between the two men throwing her elbow into Boromir's side.

I lowered my eyes at Boromir, "Seriously pendejo, do you always have negativity coursing through you! You have absolutely no idea what she's going through; the decisions she has to make are difficult enough as it is and the last thing she needs is for a fucking PRICK to make her life a living hell!" I walked up to Boromir and smacked him across the face, "you should know better."

Legolas grabbed my hand as I was about to swing at him again, "my lady, there is no need for this savagery between each other."

I pointed my finger at Boromir as Legolas began to pull me away, "You better think of what you been doing and saying because when you're time comes, you'll wish you wouldn't have treated her the way you did."

"What do you mean?" Boromir asked.

I turned my back to him and did not answer. _Soon you'll understand._

**Jessica's P.O.V.:**

"They can't tell me who to be, 'cause I'm not what they see." I pet the small brown bundle in front of me; it quivered at my touch and issued a soft squeak. Smiling at the field mouse, I stroked its back again and began to sing softly once more. "And the world is still sleepin', while I keep on dreamin' for me. And their words are just whispers and lies that I'll never believe…"

I lost track of the song at the sound of someone approaching, their footsteps making a soft tapping upon the ground. The mouse gave a squeak of alarm, darting toward the trunk of a nearby tree and disappeared. Sighing, I stood from the ground and brushed the dirt and leaves from the green gown the elves had lent me. A few seconds later Aragorn appeared at the top of the stairwell that led into the garden I was currently hiding in; the expression on his face was as blank as the one I wore.

We had not spoken since Moria and did not remain in each other's presence longer than needed. The whole experience, though it had been two weeks since Gandalf's fall, was still fresh in our minds, the pain still too close. Even for me, though I knew the pain-in-my-ass wizard would return soon enough.

He stood there in silence and I crossed my arms, annoyance bubbling in my core. "Take a picture," I sneered, "it'll last longer."

Aragorn said nothing, merely standing there and watching my temper flare. Since the Mines my fuse had become short, extremely so. "The Lady is looking for you." He left before I could snap a refusal.

_The Lady can suck my left tit! _Gritting my teeth, I stalked out of the garden and up to the pavilion that the ruling couple had met us on. _Fuck the elves and their damn stairs. _Speaking of elves_, _Tári and Haldir were on the pavilion as well; they were speaking softly to each other and Haldir had a small smile on his face.

There were three elves in all of Lothlorien that I could stand and there were Tári, Legolas, and Haldir. Tári and Legolas because the two of them believed me when I'd said that Gandalf had fallen for a reason, though Legolas still tossed me an odd look or two every so often. And Haldir because his abrasive attitude clashed marvelously well with mine; we would spend hours upon the training field or arguing over the differences in cultures, and it was just fun to rile the Elf up.

"Jess," Tári smiled over at me, placing a hand on the man's arm briefly before walking towards me. "Lady Galadriel has been looking for you. Where have you been?"

"Causing mayhem," I replied, setting my face into a blank slate.

Tári noticed the shift of emotions and frowned, "The Lady is waiting for you at the top of the stairs, just follow the path then." She grabbed my shoulder as I started towards the stars, "Jessi, I thought you were okay now?"

_Okay? Oh-fucking-kay? _The monster inside me growled menacingly, but nothing slipped past the schooled look of boredom. "I am fine Tári," I offered her a smile, before continuing up the stairs.

"Will you look into the mirror, child of the Dunedain?"

"No thanks," I responded, taking a step back from the basin and glared at the Elven Queen. "It's not going to happen Lady."

The Elleth pressed her lips into a thin line, the only indication that she was becoming just as annoyed as I was. "You do not wish to know what's become of your family?"

"Nope," I smirked at her, popping the 'p'. _Of course I do you fool, but I will not look into your damned bowl. _Feigning indifference had become too easy; especially when the mind reader had admitted to being unable to read my mind, though she was vague as too why she could not and simply described it as a wall she could not pass. It was a relief, knowing that she would not know the future.

She glared, the expression twisting her beautiful face. "Your companion has peered into its depths and has seen the future of the world if he were to fail. Surely you, with your knowledge of the future, would like to see how it plays out with your interference."

_Lady, you're getting on my nerves. _"I'd rather live it than see it." _Not to mention the fact that I'd see something bad happen and try to change it and possibly make it worse. _I turned to leave, annoyed with having wasted my time.

"Your friend, Tári, has gazed into the mirror as well."

_Ah, for the love of Robert Downey Jr.'s nipples. _I stopped, back still facing her. "As I am well aware of, and she has been scarred for life because of it." Lady Galadriel's only reply was an indignant huff of air. I rolled my eyes, lips pulling back into a sneer. "Have a nice evening, Lady Galadriel."

It was time for the evening meal, and as was expected the Fellowship ate together. Or rather, they ate together and I sat at the end of the table picking at my plate and sipping Elven Wine. The table was loud with laughter; Haldir and his brothers, Orophin and Rumil, had joined us this evening. They, along with Tári, Legolas, and Aragorn, spoke animatedly in Elvish; while the rest of the Fellowship grew drunk on the wine.

It was a surprise not just to me, but to the whole table, when Frodo got up and came over to me. "Jessica," his eyes twinkled with sadness, "how have you been?"

I watched him, bemused as the Hobbit sat to my left. "As well as one can be."

"Everyone would be in better spirits," said Boromir, studying the goblet of wine in his hand. "If you had done what you were brought along to do."

_So says the man that will try to take the ring? _Lips curling into a malicious smile, I leered at the Gondorian. "I have been doing just that," I said icily, "Gandalf fell for a reason, either you accept it or don't. Either way you can shove your opinions up your ass with a cattle prod."

An uncomfortable silence fell over the table; this was not the first time Boromir and I had fought, nor would it be the last. This time was different however, as soon as he had opened his mouth in retort Frodo jumped to his feet. "Enough!" He cried, slashing through the air with his hand. "Jessica can see the future, knows the future, if she says there is a reason behind what happened then I'm sure it is a good reason, therefore she could not interfere."

"What is the reason then?" The question came from Aragorn, whom looked at me with his soul-searching eyes.

That was the first time anyone had asked me why Gandalf had to fall. "I cannot tell you the reason why but I can tell you that you will find out soon enough."

"When?" Asked Frodo, his brow furrowed.

I had to think about it for a moment; I'd never been good with dates. "A few weeks at most."

"You dare listen to this witches lies?" Boromir stood, his usually gray-green gaze turning to slate-gray; a color that I had associated with his obsession of the ring. "Any one of us could die next and she would say 'it had to happen.'"

"Shut up, Boromir!" Tari snapped, jolting to her feet. "I am so sick of hearing you bad mouth my friend."

I felt a rush of gratitude towards her, she was a true friend. Snapping back to the present, I sighed, "no." Tari and I knew perfectly well who would be the next to die. Pushing my plate away, I stood and began to back away from the table. "No, Boromir." _I do not believe your death has to happen._


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:**

I do not own LOTR, Skyrim, Assassin's Creed, or any Disney Movies.

I do however own copies of the movies and games, along with my character Jessica.

Katie owns Tari, FIFA '10, GTA 4, and several bottles of liquor. (She recently turned 21, Happy Birthday too Katie!)

-INFO REGARDING THE STORY-

Sorry it has taken us so long to come out with Chapter 11, we knew how we wanted to end the story but getting it down on paper took a while. Our apologies in making you wait. There is still one chapter for The Fellowship of the Ring, and we will continue to write throughout the rest of the movies/books. Thank you for your patience.

**~oooOOOooo~**

**Chapter 11:**

**Jessica's P.O.V.:**

Finally, after spending a month with pompous Elves, we were leaving Lothlorien. Though I'm not sure I should be entirely happy about this considering what was to happen a few days from now. The boats that we'd be taking down the river were beautifully carved but looked like they were used more for decoration than actual sailing. I eyed the boats skeptically and silently hoped that neither Ka-Tari…or I got sea sick. _Err..River sick?_

Elves prepared for the departure of the Fellowship. Legolas was among them, shifting parcels into the boats.

"Hey Merry, hey Pippin," I sat beside the Hobbits, watching the Elves bustle around acting important. Since Frodo's outburst at the dinner table a week or so back, the Fellowship's overall reception of me had become less aggressive; aside from Boromir and Aragorn. The Hobbits and Dwarf had warmed up considerably since then, making the stay in Lorien pass by much faster.

"Wha'd up?" Pippin said, tossing up a peace sign.

I smiled, nudging his shoulder playfully. "Oh, you know, getting in their way."

Legolas smiled, placing a bundle of food supplies and weapons in a boat. "You'd be in the way more if you'd try to help."

Making a dramatic show of bringing my hand up to cover my heart as if in pain, I retorted. "You wound me Legolas, maybe you should be more careful or I might just take those knives and we'll play a little game called Dodge Ball…Err, well in this case Dodge Knife."

Giving me a weird look, Legolas handed two bundles to me. "I am beginning to wonder if the Lothlorien Elves were in their right state of mind when they decided to give you weapons. Tari I can understand, you however are…What's the phrase you use? Cray Cray?"

The Hobbits and I choked on our laughter; it was the first time the Elven Prince had used slang. Merry managed to sputter, "He does have a point!"

Mimicking the action once more, I looked to him with wide eyes. "Et tu, Merry?"

They laughed again, drawing the attention of the Fellowship. Attempting to redirect the three male's attention to something neutral, so the rest of the Fellowship didn't join in on their let's-make-fun-of-Jessi banter, I asked Legolas what the bundle of food was.

"Lembas!" He exclaimed, pulling out a loaf to show the three of us. "Elvish Way-bread. One small bite is enough to fill the stomach of a grown man." He laughed and proceeded to take a bite from the corner of the bread before tucking it back away and leaving.

Merry looked to Pippin curiously, "How many did you eat?"

"Four." The Hobbit smiled sheepishly at the two of us before burping loudly.

The three of us were laughing good-naturedly with Pippin still burping occasionally and Merry having a hiccup attack; apparently he'd eaten several loaves of Lembas as well.

"You two are ridiculous," I giggled, unwrapping the packs the Elf had handed me. The Hobbits leaned over my shoulders to get a closer look at the weapons as I drew them out. The first pack I opened carried two bracers, a vest with many loops along the front, and leather belt. Moving to open the second bundle, the Hobbits and I were momentarily distracted as a male elf placed a small bow and a quiver full of arrows at my feet. He was gone before I could thank him; having moved off to the boat Tari would be sharing with the Gimli and Legolas, and placed another bow set there along with a single bag, a large bag.

Pippin poked my side, drawing my attention back to the still unopened sack in my lap. Just to annoy him, I opened it in dramatic slow motion; inside were two metal shafts with simple rings attached to the ends on a string, a dozen small throwing knives, and a small hatchet. Setting the knives and axe aside, the Hobbits and I examined one of the shafts – at the bottom of it was a small revolving circle with the Elven rune for 'J' on it, the ring was made of bronze and had a small hole in which the string looped through, and the rod itself had two leather straps as if it were to be worn around the wrist. Out of curiosity, I tugged on the ring and out popped a blade. The tip of which stopped an inch from my face and made the Hobbits hop back in surprise.

I laughed, a bit of fangirl hysteria overtaking me for a moment as I tugged on the ring once more to withdraw the blade, strapped on both Hidden Blades – the rings placed on my middle fingers-, and slid the two bracers on over top. Feeling exceptionally badass, I jumped to my feet and kissed the Hobbits upon their cheeks before pulling them towards the gathered Elves. Tari was waving at us to join them and we quickly made our way away from the boats and toward the rest of the group. Elves approached each of us, holding a bundle of clothing in their hands.

"Never before have we clad strangers in the garb of our own people." Lord Celeborn flicked his fingers to indicate the cloaks that were being wrapped around our shoulders by other elves. "May these cloaks help shield you from unfriendly eyes."

Then Galadriel came to each of us, followed by one of her servants. She was handing out gifts to the Fellowship; a bow for Legolas, belts for Merry, Pippin, and Boromir, rope for Sam, a dagger for Aragorn, the light of a star for Frodo, and for Gimli three strands of the Elven Lady's hair. When Galadriel stood before Tari and me, she stared at us both for several moments and the events of Lothlorien played through my mind as the silence stretched. It had not been a happy time in the Wood and it was soon to become even darker.

"Jessica, daughter of Numenor, knowledge of the future has tainted your path," Lady Galadriel paused, lips tilting into a sad, knowing, smile. She knew what it was like, to know bits of the future and to be feared, misunderstood, by mortals anyway. "Do not allow the words of the less informed," I smirked at her use of the word _informed, _"Hold you back from what must come to pass, or what you must accomplish."

Turning to Tari, Galadriel continued, "and Tari, daughter of Mirkwood and of the Maiar, your heart is heavy, and your mind troubled. Our lessons may shield your mind, but in the end, you will have to decide whether to let go or attempt to save what may be lost."

Tari and Galadriel shared a look, their eyes shone with some intense emotion that I could not read. Arching a brow at my friend, which she did not see, I fidgeted as the gazes of the rest of the Fellowship rested on us. Galadriel had waited until they were once again busy loading the boats before taking small bundle from an elleth standing to the right of her. Within the wrapping was two necklaces; the chains shone a bright silver with a teardrop shaped stone that shimmered between mint green and indigo, the stone seemed almost luminous as the sun hit it.

Inclining my head towards the Lady, she slipped the chain over my head, and as Tari mimicked my actions I clasped the stone between my fingers to study it closer. "These necklaces hold a special power. These gems are of a rare kind in Middle-Earth, and they should be handled with great care." Galadriel's face lightened, "These stones will allow you to keep track of each other. When wearing the necklace, you will feel a pull of the direction the other is in."

Galadriel was then handed another pouch that one of the elleth's had been holding, "I think that in a world that still seems unfamiliar to you; having a piece of your past will make it easier to move on." Galadriel then placed the cloth pouch into Tari's hands. She turned to me, motioning to open it. With the pouch still cupped in her hands, I gently tugged on the strings and let the cloth covering fall.

"It's…a cross," she said, as I slid my hand across its surface.

"It's deeply pitted, tarnish." Brow furrowed, I gently stroked the cross again. "Maybe it's bronze?"

"No lasses, this cross is made o' gold. It jus' needs a bi' o' polishin'," spoke Gimli whom heard the 'bronze' comment while walking past; he then walked over to us and reached towards the cross. Gimli then held out one of his arms and, gently, began to polish part of the trinket. After a moment he lifted the cross into the gleaming light breaking through the branches of the Wood; the bottom half of it, though still dirty, gleamed brighter. With a grunt, Gimli returned the cross to Tari's hand.

She smiled gently at Gimli and thanked him, which the Dwarf acknowledged with a nod of his head before moving off.

My friend stared at what lay in her hands; it had been so long since either of us had seen something like this. I may not have been a Christian but the sight of the cross brought tears to my eyes. It was a little piece of home.

**Katie/Tari's P.O.V.:**

I stared at what laid in my hands; it had been so long since I had seen something like this. It pained me a little to see something that no longer existed in this world; for this cross symbolized something that back in our time was what many people lived by, including me. Tears began to fester in my eyes, but I held them in. Rewrapping the cross, I placed it in my bag and released an exhausted sigh.

After what happened in Moria, the voices I've heard since the journey began; my mind had been in constant conflict. Galadriel's voice entered into my thoughts once more, _your heart is heavy, and your mind troubled. Our lessons may shield your mind, but in the end, you will have to decide whether to let go or attempt to save what may be lost._

I blinked my eyes and Legolas was standing in one of the canoes holding his hand out towards me, "My lady." Taking his hand, I stepped into the canoe, "You seem troubled…Is something bothering you?"

My face flushed a little, damn it; I have to lie. I can't let him know about our plans. "I'm okay; I've just had a lot on my mind lately with what has all recently been going on. Nothing to worry about," I was faking a smile for him, but I think he knew what I was trying to mask…the pain.

Closing my eyes, I listened as Legolas began to move the oar back and forth, the canoe pulling further and further away from the shores of Lorien and towards the river.

_…I was still in Lorien, the leaves were slowly falling towards the forest floor and a breeze slithered its way through the trees. In my hand was a small white flower that was placed on my pack by my bed roll while I was gone. Holding the flower to my nose, a sweet aroma filled my head and I sighed._

_"Do you like it?" A voice came from behind me, "The flower is unique to Lorien." _

_Turning around I saw Haldir, who was smiling. Quite a rarity. I held it to my nose again breathing in the flowers aroma, "Yes, I'm quite fond of it. It's so pure, almost sacred like."_

_Haldir moved closer to me, his hand reaching out to clasp the one that held the flower. "I thought you would appreciate the beauty of something as pure, and rare as the Dendrobium white orchid." He lifted my hand, breathing in the seductive aroma of the orchid. A soft sigh came from within him. Lifting his head, Haldir leveled his aquamarine gaze to my sage-green eyes, still holding my one hand in-between both of his, "Cormamin niuve tenna' ta elea lle au' Melamin." _

_I lifted my hand to his face, fingers sliding from the front to the back where my hand stayed. Staring into his eyes, I smiled and leaning towards him I placed my lips against his forehead and spoke as I pulled away from him, "Tenna' san', kwara sina ten' amin," reaching into a pocket that was sown into my tunic and I held something in my fist. Holding out my hand, I pressed the object into his palm, and wrapped my friends around his own. "Mani naa ta?" I smiled, "A'maelamin, oio naa eleallaa alasse'. Hold what I've given to you closely, for it is something I've had my entire life. Namaari."_

_Haldir opened his hand, "A ring?" The gold shone brightly in the sunlight that broke through the thick forest treetops. He looked up, but I was already gone…_

I opened my eyes and we were no longer in the woods of Lorien, but were now moving down the river. Looking back towards the woods a single tear trailed from my eye to my chin; whipping it away I looked towards the direction we were headed and I began to think of what was set to come, my stomach was in a knot, I was afraid…

**Jessica's P.O.V.:**

Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily life is but a dream. We had been on the river for hours and, for the love of all that is and was holy, I was bored as hell. Sighing softly, I looked over to Tari, whom had been paired with Legolas and Gimli, the hair that had escaped her braids was blowing gently in the breeze. I wondered what she was thinking about; the cross, the journey ahead, her mother…men?

Tucking my bangs behind my ear, I lay my head upon Frodo's back. He, and everyone else in the Fellowship, seemed lost in thought, the paddles dipping into the river in a dull, monotone, rhythm. _Oh right, they're remembering what happened in Lothlorien. _This scene was one of my favorites in the first movie, the sort of calm before the storm. The last calm before the storm, and this shit isn't even that calm. The boat jostled as the current picked up, giving me a mini-heart attack and adding emphasis to my inner babble on 'calm'.

Though all may seem _calm_, I knew that we were all dealing with our own fears, anxieties. Frodo had bags under his eyes, making them appear slightly bruised. The other Hobbits, plus Aragorn, had developed ticks, when they weren't preoccupied with other things, their eyes would always search out Frodo and if they could not find him, you could literally see the panic mar their faces. Legolas and Gimli seemed more focused on the road ahead, and in keeping an eye on Boromir. The Gondorian was the root to the unease that had begun to eat away at the taller members of the Fellowship, myself and Tari included.

That is where most my anxieties lay; could I save him, was it fate, does fate exist, would the ring's hold on him continue if I could save him, was he fighting it, could he forgive me, and would it change the outcome? The stress had always been there but it hadn't begun to consume me until Lorien. It had started to take a toll on my health; sleep was evasive, nightmares plagued me when I did manage to sleep, food became bland, and my once toned body began to deteriorate. Tari as well, started to show signs of weakening. She added onto my growing list of concerns – was she thinking about her father, did she remember all of the plan, had Galadriel's teachings truly strengthened her mind, would it shield her from Sauron, and did she hate me for asking her to leave?

I had always wondered what it was like, for solders to go off to war not knowing what lay ahead. And now that I did, somewhat, I wished that I could go home and let someone else deal with it. Selfish. That is what I was.

"Hey Pocahontas!"

_Huh? _Looking around, my eyes landed on Tari. She was smiling goofily. "Pocahontas? Really?" Placing a hand over my heart in mock hurt, I called "racist!"

She gave me a look. "Jess, you're not Native American."

"Bu-what? Shenanigans, my dad is half-"

"But, those weren't your actual parents." She arched a brow, a sad smile replacing the goofy one.

_Oh, right…_Behind me, I could hear the shifting of Aragorn's clothing. An awkward aura filled the space between us. "R-right…Uhh, why did you say it then?"

"Oh! You remember that song she sings? The one when she steps into the water, with the otters, ya know? I can't remember how it starts!"

I laughed, a clutch your sides in pain laugh. "Oh..HA…Oh my god! That is the most random thing ever."

Her snort echoed across the river. "We're on a river though, reminded me of the movie."

Sam turned to look at us, a smile playing across his face. "Do you have it on your eye-pod?"

"Ipod, Sam, not eye-pod." Tari called to him.

"And no, I don't have it. Damn it."

"What's the song?" Frodo turned slowing, his voice soft and eyes watery.

Boromir pointed kept his eyes forward and expression stoic, while the rest of the Fellowship shifted their attention to the two of us.

Shaking my head and blushing in embarrassment, I softly began to sing. "What I love most about rivers is, you can't step in the same river twice –"

"That water's always changing, always flowing. But people, I guess, can't live like that, we all must pay a price –"

"To be safe, we lose our chance of ever knowing. What's around the river bend? Waiting just around the river bend."

Tari and I looked at each other, we laughed loudly before continuing the song. At times we sang separately and, at others, together. Merry and Pippin asked us to repeat the chorus, singing with us when they recognized the stanza.

"Remix!" I shouted, before convulsing in giggles.

She laughed loudly and began to beat box badly, very badly. The rest of the Fellowship looked as if they wanted to drown themselves in the river as we both began to sing. "I look once more, once more! Just around the river bend, once more, around the river bend. Beyond the shore, somewhere past the sea. The shore, beyond the shore! Why do all my d-d-dr-dreams extend, just around the r-r-r-river bend? Just around the river bend!" At this point Legolas had covered his ears, Gimli began humming to himself, and Aragorn's eye began to twitch. The Hobbits, on the other hand, were clapping and asking what 'remix' meant. With an agonizingly obvious I'm-trying-to-get-your-attention hacking cough from Tari, I looked to my best friend whom nodded her head towards Boromir. The man had turned a bright red color and was biting his lip; Tari once more caught my attention and signed that he had been laughing.

With a devilish smirk, Tari called out in a gravely tone. "Screamo version!" The Fellowship groaned, wailed, and cried out for their mothers as we began to scream the song.

It was only after we sang the first half of the song several times that we began to grow sick of it. Pausing for a moment, Tari inclined her head and let me finish the first half of the last verse. Once again the soft soprano of my voice drifted across the river. "Should I choose the smoothest curve, steady as the beating drum? Should I marry Kocoum?" Looking momentarily to Boromir, "Is all my dreaming at an end?"

Tari once more joined in, her alto adding a sorrowful ambiance. "Or do you still wait for me, Dream Giver. Just around the river…bend?"

Silence fell over the Fellowship, broken only by my tugging on the rings and the barely audible click of the knifes sliding out. "Oh come on!" Cried Tari, crossing her arms in mock jealousy, "they made you Hidden Blades? How do they even know about that?"

"I think they overheard us talking about Assassin's Creed," I called to her, letting the blades slide back into their shafts. "What did you get?"

"Just my bow – yes, I saw you have one too, a few weird looking daggers, and a staff thing." Holding up her 'staff thing', Tari examined it closely, running her fingers along the pole and tilting one end of it to her face to look down at it length wise.

"Try twisting it," Merry hollered, as Pippin nodded enthusiastically.

Following the Hobbit's instruction with a doubtful quirk of her brow, Tari held the shaft out in front of her and twisted. There was a feint popping sound, as the staff lengthened and blades shot out at either end. "Good thing I wasn't hold it up to my face when that happened," she exclaimed, making the rest of us laugh as she twisted the staff again and it returned once more to the unassuming pole. She then held up one the daggers, withdrawing it from its sheath.

An enthusiastic gasp escaped my lips, "that's an elven dagger from Skyrim!"

"What?" She examined the blade closer, realization dawning on her face, "holy poo, it is!"

Then it hit us; if someone had overheard us talking about Skyrim and Assassin's Creed, then maybe they knew about the plan – designated Operation S.T.D. (Save the Dumbass). With equally apprehensive looks to the Fellowship, Tari and I attempted to carry on the playful banter as if the realization hadn't hit us like a rampaging elephant.

"Sooo…" She said, posture stiff, "wanna spar when we reach land?"

Legolas shook his head, "there will be no sparing, you two are ridiculous when you spar. Shouting out obscenities, falling off of things, and attempting to reenact scenes from your 'videogames'."

"Ahh, but daaaad," we whined, sticking out lips out in a pout. It might have worked, our dear Elven Prince had a soft spot for Tari but Aragorn had to ruin the fun.

"Enough you two, there will be no rough housing tonight." Just then, we rounded a corner and saw a small island at the center of the river. "We will spend the night there," Aragorn said, angling the boat towards the slab of land.

**Katie/Tari's P.O.V.:**

Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli pulled the boats up onto the shore of the small island. Jessi and I offloaded the boats and laid out everyone's bedrolls, while Merry and Pippin made a small fire to cook supper - Merry had caught several fish and placed them in a medium sized pouch while we had been sailing down river. Jessi and I sat next to the fire, playing with the weapons the elves had loaded into the boats for us while we watched Merry and Pippin skin and gut the fish, cutting them into smaller pieces and tossing them into a metal pot that hung above the fire.

I could feel a darkness spreading through the fellowship. A great evil was lurking amongst us; most of it being drawn towards Boromir whom already was weakened by the lure of The Ring. Casting my eyes across the other side of the island was a large rock, close to the water, Boromir was standing with his back against it, eyes feverish, twitching at the very sound of the smallest noises; he'd finally been driven mad. Legolas' eyes slanting watching Boromir's every move. His gaze then turned towards the dark woods that surrounded the Anduin. Legolas' face became conflicted, scrunched. I knew of what he could sense, for I felt it as well, almost like someone…or something was watching us.

I heard a soft plop in the water behind where Boromir sat, I watched as he turned his back, grey eyes searching the silver-laden ripples of the Anduin. Aragorn took a puff from his pipe and softly spoke to Boromir who was still peering over the rock.

The bags under Frodo's eyes had darkened since I'd last seen them; The Ring was beginning to slowly drain the life out of the young Hobbit.

Sam stretched his arm out towards Frodo which held a plate with the fish Merry and Pippin had prepared and cooked, "Have some food Mr. Frodo."

Frodo's eyes glazed over, "No, Sam."

Sam pleaded to his friend, "You haven't eaten all day, and you're not sleeping either. Don't think I haven't noticed Mr. Frodo."

"I'm all right," there was a definite annoyed edge to Frodo's voice now.

Sam snapped at Frodo, "But you're not! I'm here to help you. I promised Gandalf that I would." That was the first time I had ever seen Sam upset; I knew that it wouldn't be the last time I would see it either.

Frodo sighed, "You can't help me, Sam…Not this time…Get some sleep."

Sam looked over to Jessi and I. We continued to eat our food, pretending that we didn't hear their argument. Raising my head slightly, I watched as Sam passed from behind me, his eyes tearing up as he walked to his bed roll. I placed a piece of fish in my mouth, chewing, directing my attention to where Boromir and Aragorn were now standing; their words were muffled but I could tell that there was tension between the two of them. Boromir grabbed a hold of Aragorn's arm, "You are afraid! All your life, you have hidden in the shadows!" Now THAT I could hear crisply and clearly, but I had no clue as to why Boromir was speaking that way towards Aragorn. I know that Jessi and I weren't the only ones to take notice, for I saw Frodo shifting from underneath his bedroll, and Gimli grunting and rolling over turning his back away from where Aragorn and Boromir stood.

Boromir glanced towards the fire where Jessi and I sat; his eyes mimicked the fire flickering in the night. He directed his attention back to Aragorn. He whispered so that we could not hear his words then let go of Aragorn's arm. Aragorn turned away, taking several steps towards the islands shore he spun back around, "I will not lead the Ring within a hundred leagues of your city." My now knew of what they had been arguing about, The Ring…I was still curious as to what Boromir saw in the Anduin.

I felt a nudge in my side and leaned closer to Jessi who spoke first, "That was awkward…"

"Indeed it was," as I twirled the Moonstone dangling from the silver necklace, "I wonder what Boromir was looking at."

Jessi shrugged her shoulders, her head tilted to side as if listening to something far off. There was an echo, a croaking voice calling out, "Gollum." If it hadn't been for my elven hearing I wouldn't have caught it. Startled, I looked to Jessi who was poking at the small serving of food she held. She had told me what lay ahead of my journey, once I left with Frodo and Sam, but didn't mention that Gollum was following us even now. Casting a worried look to the two Hobbits, I saw Frodo shift under the bedroll. I pointed my finger towards the restless Hobbit.

"He hasn't slept in days," my gaze shifted from the Hobbit to the fire, "or eaten. I'm beginning to worry about him. I'm not so sure I will be able to protect him Jessi. The Ring is quickly taking over him; I'm surprised that he has lasted this long and only just now showing the physical effects of the Rings power. Nor am I sure that I will be able to keep our secret…"

Jessi wrapped her arm around my shoulder gazing up towards the stars, "Nobody ever said it would be easy. The fate in the destruction of the Ring rests on our shoulders, we have no choice but to do what has been given to us," holding her Moonstone in her hand and mine in the other she spoke, "Even if there are leagues between us, there will be a part of us still together." Jessi wrapped her arms around me and hugged me for several moments before letting go.

I shifted my body a little, eyes heavy, a sickening feeling was rising into the pit of my stomach, "Jessi, do you remember the battle of Helms Deep?"

Uneasiness took over her face, amber eyes flashing. "Yes, I do." She let her hand rest on my knee, "Why do you ask?"

I sighed and let my shoulders fall into a slump, "I never had the knowledge of the battle before, but for some reason it has plagued my dreams since we had arrived in Lothlorien. Two scenarios constantly replay themselves; One has the elves not showing up during the battle, then another; Haldir and the Elves arriving in Helms Deep to honor the allegiance between Elves and Men," I cringed as I relived the dream, "I see images of the battle, arrows soaring in the air and into the masses of Orcs, an explosion and a flood of them swarming Helms Deep. I hear a man saying 'Pull back, into the Keep.' I watch as Haldir is fighting his way through hordes of Orcs...

Aragorn telling him to pull back and Haldir nodding in acknowledgement. He continued to fight and called out to someone, he received a blow to his arm, and everything starts slowing down. That's when I feel like I am a phantom, standing in front of him as he slowly looks to his soldiers, dying before his eyes. He then looks straight ahead, almost as if he is looking into my eyes. He reaches for a chain that was dangling from his neck pulling it from under his armor. He holding it in front of his eyes, he kisses the ring attached to the chain, almost like he knew he would not survive and then…" My words became muffled and what came out was quiet sobs.

I felt Jessi's arms wrap around me once again, "an axe driven into his back…" I grabbed a hold of Jessi's tunic as my heart began to lurch out from my chest, the salty tears running down my cheeks, and onto my chapped lips, stinging, "I had given him a gift back in Lorien before our departure," I struggled to speak words, choking, "It was the..the..same ra-ra-ring I had given to hi-hi-him."

"Are you asking me to save Haldir if he does arrive in Helms Deep?"

Hands still grasping her tunic, I nodded.

Letting go of Jessi's tunic, I whipped away the tears streaming from my eyes. Jessi lifted my blanket over my shoulders and slowly laid me down against the solid earth. Softly whispering, "Do not worry, I will not let you lose him." Slowly I drifted away, listening to the wind singing, the water rippling, fading into darkness.

_~oooOOOooo~_

I felt a nudge into my back, and then another. I groaned as I sat up. Rubbing my eyes I noticed that I was moving, not only forward, but up and down as well. "Oh dear god," I held my stomach and laid my head off to the side, water misting my face.

There was the sound of many people gasping, and a few mumbled phrases from Jessica in what I assumed were Japanese. "Frodo, the Argonath! Long have I desired to look upon the Kings of old. My kin," exclaimed Aragorn.

"Jessica's too," glancing up from the cresting waves of the Anduin and coming face to face with giant statues. One on each side of the river, hands raised as if giving warning, faces stoic. As the boats grew closer and closer to the statues, the smaller and more insignificant I felt. One of the great beauties still left in this world.

The rivers speed began to quicken as we reached closer to a great waterfall. The land rose above the river on both sides, sharp rocks climbed up from the cascades. Legolas, Aragorn, and Boromir angled the boats towards the rocky shoreline, each getting out and lifting the others onto land. Jessi and I walked a little closer to the woods dropping our packs against a tree, and readjusting our weapons. I turned around to see Boromir, face contorted, almost as if he were fighting something within himself. A nauseous feeling began to rise deep within me. I placed my hand on the dagger Boromir had given me to back in Rivendell, sadness slowly washed over me as a memory replayed behind my closed eyes...

_… I dropped my things to my sides; my sword fell from my sash that was tied to my hip. I bent over to pick it up and realized someone else had grabbed it. Looking up I saw Boromir smiling, "Are you ready?"..._

_…I nodded again, standing how he placed me; twig in hand, "Are you ready for me to kick your ass?"_

_Boromir chuckled, "I don't think you'll be doing much, rear-end kicking, with that as your weapon," pointing at the twig gripped between my hands._

_Everyone started laughing; I screamed, charging towards Boromir swinging my twig wildly in the air, "aye aye aye aye aye aye!" Jessica fell to the ground laughing, the hobbits chanting and dancing, Legolas seeming to be very amused by my 'plan of attack'. Aragorn, Gandalf, and Gimli sat upon a rock laughing at the spectacle and chatting amongst themselves. Jumping into the air I smacked Boromir in the head with my twig..._

_…He fell to the ground, I landing on top of him. I gazed into his eyes, as we were both still laughing, as was everyone else. I took a deep breath, moving the hair from my eyes and placing it behind my ear, and smiled. I sat there for just a moment as my vision was still spinning before I got up from him and held my hand out to him. "Well, how'd I do?"_

_"You took on the position very well, moving correctly, twig held in the right position. We'll still need to practice your holding your stance though, and the swinging the twig randomly in the air will not do when you're in the midst of battle," he chuckled placing his hand into mine, me lifting him from the ground…_

I blinked my eyes. Boromir stood several feet from me, his face still distorted. I knew that somewhere, deep inside him, he was fighting his way out of darkness only to be pulled deeper down into the dark abyss. I turned away from him and my eyes met Jessi's, the same expression maiming her face. _So it has begun._

_**~oooOOOooo~**_

In case you were wondering what was spoken in Katie/Tari's P.O.V., here are the rough translations from Elvish to English and the lovely authors explanation as to why she switched her affections from Legolas to Haldir.

Directly from Katie to you, our viewers, here are:

Here are the translations:

Cormamin niuve tenna' ta elea lle au' Melamin. = My heart shall weep until it sees thee again my love.

Tenna' san', kwara sina ten' amin = Until then, hold this for me.

Mani naa ta? = What is it?

A'maelamin, oio naa eleallaa alasse' = My beloved, ever thy sight is a joy.

Namaari = Farewell.

My reasoning for choosing Haldir over Legolas:

- I thought about it for a few days, you (Jessi) had asked me who I chose [since I seemed to have lured two men], but only one was meant to be my soul-mate. (We had discussed before that in our society it was normal for a person to be flirtatious to more than just one person, but that I needed to decide which Elf would be best suited for me because of the physical pain it would cause an Elf to have their heart broken). I thought deeply about what you had asked me and it was then that I realized my character was occasionally withdrawn at times, wasn't so assertive, just like how I am in real life. I've always been attracted to men who are strong-willed, powerful, leaders, seem hard-headed on the outside...only to find a sweet side of them hidden deep within. I think at first my character was drawn to Legolas for his appearance (and that of his royalty) but then I started to see that love is not just about what is on the outside but what truly makes you feel whole and complete. When I first watched LOTR : FOTR - I was captivated by Haldir, his stoic appearance and witty remarks drew me in; I suppose because he kind of seemed like a dick, which to me I saw as a challenge (I don't like easy games, I like to play hard) and I saw him almost as a prize catch. He was handsome, but he was a strong-willed person. When choosing Haldir is wasn't based on just his appearance, but because our personalities balanced each other out wholly and completely. If you have any more questions about my decision, feel free to ask!


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: **

I do not own LOTR, Disney, or any of the music rights.

I do own Jessica, an awesome bow I got for Yule, and a packet of Metallic Sharpies.

Katie owns herself (Tari), a kitten that is a bit on the destructive side, and some tasty Liquor.

Hello again lovely readers! This is Chapter 12 and the final chapter for The Fellowship of The Ring, we will continue writing throughout the whole series but uploads might be slow in coming for the next few weeks. You will be able to find The Two Towers storyline posted under the name "Travelers Tari and Jessica". But for now, Katie and I would love feed back on this story and we apologize once more that it has taken us so long to finish it. We hope that you have enjoyed it so far and hope that you will leave a review with any questions you may have. There will be one more post consisting of replies to your questions as well as a full description of the girls appearances - in case there was some confusion.

**~oooOOOooo~**

**Chapter 12**

** Jessica's P.O.V.:**

Adjusting my vest, and slipping the knives through the loops, I looked once more upon Frodo and Sam. They would be leaving, along with Tari, in a few short hours – actually, probably less than that. A coldness began to claw its way into my emotions, the same numbing agent that had taken over after the Mines. Whether this was good or bad, I did not know but at the moment I was grateful. It made the knowledge of my friends, and best friend, leaving a little easier to bear, and gave me a single-mindedness – more like a stubborn will – in saving Boromir.

Tari nudged my side gently, nodding her head towards the Gondorian as he discreetly followed Frodo. No one noticed the two of them, or us, leaving. In the distance we heard Gimli complaining about 'needing to recover his strength'; Tari looked at me as a miserable smile quirked her lips but it quickly disappeared as we crouched behind a fallen tree, hiding just in time as Boromir checked over his shoulder.

_~oooOOOooo~_

We watched the spectacle from a short distance away; we had climbed a tree and were spying on the man and hobbit from above. Boromir had tackled Frodo, and shouted, "It should be mine! Give it to me!"

The two struggled on the ground, Tari shifted closer with a pained look on her face. Reaching out to place a restraining hand on her shoulder, we watched as Frodo reached for the ring.

"Give it to me!"

"No!" Frodo cried, attempting to wriggle away from the much heavier man.

"Give me…" Boromir growled, face twisted into a grimace. "Give me the Ring!"

Frodo protested, shoving Boromir once more as he slipped on the ring and disappeared. The Gondorian looked confused, his hands held out grasping at nothing more than air but he doubled over a second later, as a now invisible Frodo kicked him before running off.

Looking around desperately, Boromir called out to the wind. "I see your mind. You will take the Ring to Sauron! You will betray us! You'll go to your death and the death of us all!" He stood; spit flying from his mouth as he continued to rant.

Nodding to Tari, we grasped each other's forearms tightly. "Goodbye," she said, choking on the word.

"This isn't goodbye, Tari." Slipping to the ground with her, I quoted one of our favorite Disney movies. "Goodbye may seem forever, Farewell is like the end."

Tari nodded, remembrance shining in her eyes. "Then, this will just be a 'see you later'."

Lips pressed tightly together in an attempt to hold back tears, I nudged her in the direction of the boats. "See you later." She took off in a run, leaves crunching beneath her feet and drawing the attention of Boromir.

"Who's there?" He choked out, wiping away tears with one hand and drawing his sword with the other.

Peeking out from behind the tree, I watched as Boromir's face clouded in anger before shifting to embarrassment, and then finally sadness. He sighed, letting his shoulders droop as if he'd carried a great weight. I suppose he had, being taken over by the ring and betraying the Fellowship. I wanted to be angry with him but couldn't summon more than a faint spark, for the shit he'd said to me, but for the most part I blamed his father – Denethor – and, obviously, the ring.

"You knew," he said, watching me walk towards him. Boromir looked like he wanted to be angry but his eyes, which had changed from possessed slate-gray to their original gray tinged with green, held a lost quality. "Why didn't you stop me?"

"Would you have listen?" I countered, softening my voice to lessen the accusation behind the words. We stood less than an yard from each other now; the space between us felt much more than it actually was but I didn't want to press him, and for all I knew he could still be angry with me over the whole Gandalf thing.

"Why?" Boromir asked again, sad gray-green eyes lifting to my own autumn-brown. "I've betrayed the Fellowship, broke my promise to keep Frodo safe…Why did you allow this to happen?"

"It had to hap-"

"Happen, really?" Shaking his head, Boromir returned his sword to its scabbard.

"Yes, actually, it did have to happen. Just like Moria had to happen." I snapped, fists clenching at my sides. "Gods, I want to punch you! Listen well, Boromir, because I will not repeat myself again – Everything that I allow to happen has a reason, and yes I said 'allow' because there are some things that I will not _allow_ to happen. Whether you like it or not, accept it or not, there are things that I cannot explain to you or anyone else, aside from Tari." Taking a deep breath, I continued to yell at the Gondorian and stepped closer to him to poke his chest with my finger to add emphasis to my words. "You ask me why this had to happen? I can tell you now because events have already been set in motion. If you had not attempted to take the ring from Frodo, he would not have left with Sam and therefore jeopardizing the timeline. And before you ask – No, I will not tell you why Gandalf had to fall in Moria because it'll be so much better to see your reactions later on." Taking one last deep breath, and drawing an arrow to my bow, I stepped away from the Gondorian. "By the way, you're going to want to draw your sword again, shit is about to hit the preverbal fan."

The man had the audacity to snort and was just about to walk away when the Uruk-Hai appeared at the hill top. Cursing, Boromir withdrew his sword and charged forward, just as I let loose an arrow and loaded another. With Boromir keeping the first of the Uruk busy, I was able to deal several killing shots before the enemy swarmed over the hill.

"Holy hell!" Tossing aside my bow, I unsheathed my hatchet and one of my throwing knives. With only a second to aim, I launched my knife at the Uruk-Hai that Boromir was fighting, before having to reach up with my axe to block a sword from cleaving my head down the middle. In the seconds it took the Uruk to realize his opponent was stronger than he had originally thought, I had been able to slam my 'Hidden' Blade between his ribs and into his lung. The Uruk fell, gurgling as he slowly drowned in his own blood.

Several of the monsters let out war cries, rushing forward to replace their fallen comrade. Jumping out of the way of their charge, I slammed my axe into the back of one which resulted in the loss of the weapon. Yeah, I was off to a _great _start. Snarling between my teeth, I removed the largest knife from my vest and chased after the Uruk that had my axe imbedded in its back. The Uruk managed to get his hand along the handle, pulling at it just as I stabbed my knife into his back and slashed at him repeatedly with my Hidden Blade. Dark blood sprayed onto my clothing and face, the Uruk screamed as I yanked my knife from his spine and fell to the ground twitching. The fiery breathe of bloodlust overtook me as the gore of the now dead Uruk dripped from my chin; I laughed, letting lose a fierce battle cry. I wanted to bathe in their spilled blood.

Boromir managed to blast his horn twice before being over taken by the enemy once more. Stepping onto the fallen Uruk's back, I removed my axe and returned to battle. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Merry and Pippin, they were throwing rocks at the Uruk-Hai, distracting them momentarily and allowing either Boromir or I to take them out.

Pain erupted from my leg, as a half dead Uruk delivered a slash to my calf before dying, a malicious grin on its lips. Gasping, I lifted my leg but that only made the pain worse, the torn muscle twitched and bled profusely. "Son of a bitch!" The agony ripped me from berserker mode.

Putting as little weight as possible on my leg, I began to throw my remaining knives at the passing Uruk. They were rushing towards Merry and Pippin, cries of 'Find the Halflings' and their laughter filled the chilled air. Lurtz appeared on the hilltop, and I snarled as I realized that I would not be able to arrive in time to save Boromir from the first arrow. "Boromir, duck!"

The moment the words left my mouth I wished I could've taken them back; Boromir had turned to look at me, his brow wrinkling in worry when he noticed the wound on my leg as I hobbled up to him. That is when the arrow hit him. It was bound to happen anyway, even if he had been concentrating on the battle instead of rushing to help me. The only good thing to come out of this was that he was now close enough for me to push him out of the way of the second arrow.

Boromir was yelling at the Hobbits to run but they froze as a second arrow hit another of their group, me. Having pushed Boromir out of the way, the arrow hit just below my ribs but close enough to my side that it went straight through. It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would, feeling more like I had fallen and the air had rushed from my lungs, but then I gasped for air and twisted my torso to look at my friends. Agony. Torment. Pain. Ache. No words could describe the anguish I was in and I vaguely wondered how Boromir was not withering on the ground like I was. Screams worked their way out of my throat; tearing the muscle and making blood flow from the side of my mouth.

Boromir yelled once more for the Hobbits to run, picking up his blade and killing any who dare come near the three of us. Shouting for Aragorn, Boromir slashed at our enemies and received many cuts from their swords. Lurtz was not done with him however; gasping for breath, I watched as the Uruk aimed at him once more and fired. My shrieks no longer carried any sound but came out silently as Boromir fell to his knees beside me. Merry and Pippin cried out and ran towards the Uruk-Hai, beating the brutes as they picked the Hobbits up and carried them off.

_No, come back! Please! _With no little amount of effort, I placed a hand over the arrow and applied pressure. Turning over, I was able to inch my way closer to Boromir who was looking up at Lurtz. He gasped for air; two arrows penetrated his chest close to his heart, and waited for the Uruk to take one last shot.

With a cry, Aragorn appeared and tackled Lurtz away from us. But the damage had been done, Boromir was dying. He looked at me, taking in sharp breaths that made his shoulders jerk and brought blood up from his lungs to lightly cover his mouth. Groaning, the powerful man dragged himself to me before collapsing onto his side and rolling onto his back. Knowing that my injuries - though painful - were not fatal, I hauled myself to his side.

"Forgive me," he said, tears leaking from the corner of his eyes. "So sorry, for what I said."

Choking on this new pain, I let go of my wound and grasped his hand tightly. The Uruk's blood, as well as his and my own, mixed on our clenched hands. "No, Boromir, forgive me," stroking his hair back with my other hand, a tear fell onto his dirt smeared face. "I tried to save you, but I was too slow."

Boromir coughed, blood began to leak from the corner of his mouth. "You…you wanted to save me?" A blood smeared smile spread across his face, "after everything that I called you…"

Whimpering, I pressed my forehead to his. "Shhh…it doesn't matter…"

Aragorn appeared, looking a little winded as he knelt on the opposite side of Boromir, who reached out with his free hand to grab Aragorn's shoulder, while still holding tightly onto mine. "They took the little ones."

"Be still," replied the Ranger, looking over me before checking Boromir's wounds.

I began to pray to any gods or goddesses that would listen; _please don't let him die. _

But Boromir would have none of it, "Frodo! Where is Frodo?"

"I let Frodo go."

"Then you did what I could not." A forlorn, pain filled, apologetic smile graced his lips, "I tried to take the Ring from him."

"The Ring is beyond our reach now." Aragorn met the eyes of our fallen friend.

Boromir's skin began to lose more coloring as he continued to speak. "Forgive me. I did not see it. I have failed you all."

_I'll give you whatever you want, just heal him. Please!_

"No, Boromir, you fought bravely! You have kept your honor." He looked to me, perhaps waiting for me to back him up but I ignored my brother. Looking away, Aragorn reached out to remove the arrows from Boromir's chest.

"Leave it!" Snapped Boromir, letting go of Aragorn's shoulder to stop his hand. "It is over. The world of men will fall, and all will come to darkness… and my city to ruin."

Casting a pleading look in my direction, Aragorn answered, "I do not know what strength is in my blood, but I swear to you I will not let the White City fall…nor our people fail!"

_Anything you want – daily sacrifices, to build a place of worship, riches…_

"Our people?" He laughed, but the laughter quickly turned into a burble in the back of his throat. "Our people." Reaching for his sword, without letting go of my hand, Boromir clasped it to his chest with help from Aragorn.

_My life…I'll give you my life, in exchange for his._

"I would have followed you my Brother…my Captain…My King!"

I had expected him to slip away right then, but as I pressed my lips to his bloodied ones, he kissed back. Whimpering, I continued to kiss him even as the light pressure he returned began to fade.

Sound diminished, the breeze died, and Aragorn's hand was frozen in midair. "What the he-"

"I would refrain from cursing, Traveler." A harsh voice pulsed through the air as the body of a man began to materialize. The man wore metallic black armor with sharp angles and layered shoulder pads that curled like waves, his ears were severely pointed – more than an elf's – and peaked from beneath long lusterless black hair, with blue-almost-white eyes he took in the scene at his feet. He radiated an icy power; the ground beneath him hissed and turned an ashy grey-black as the temperature dropped to the point that I could see my breath.

"I am Mandos," he declared, eyes landing on my hand which still held Boromir's. "And I have come to answer your prayers." He sneered as the words 'your prayers' and 'I have come', echoed on the still air. More figures emerged in the distance, their bodies covered in shadow; they did not make themselves known.

Looking around at the gathering figures frantically, I gulped and looked up once more at Mandos. "Save him," I whispered, "please."

With a wave of his hand, a ghostly figure of Boromir appeared at his side. He was looking around confusedly and moved his mouth as if speaking though nothing was heard. "For his life," Mandos's grating boulders-rolling-down-the-mountains voice drew the attention of Boromir as he looked from Mandos to me, hand still clutching his own and lips smeared from the blood on his lips. "What will you offer?"

"My life," I replied, watching Boromir as he fought against whatever force was holding him. He was shaking his head, lips forming the word 'no'.

"Done."

**Katie/Tari's P.O.V.:**

I jumped down from the tree, landing in a small group of leaves. Crunch. I bolted towards the river.

"Who's there?" I heard someone calling out from behind me in the crisp, cool air. Boromir. I couldn't look back, otherwise I would never be able to leave the Fellowship and depart with Frodo and Sam.

I was given ample time to make it to the river before Frodo would make it to the Elven canoe. I did my best to grab as much food as I could, leaving the rest for the Fellowships journey. Grabbing my pack that I had with me since The Rockies; the cloak Lord Celeborn had given us before our departure was folded on top. Throwing the cloak over my shoulders, and tugging at it to make sure it fit well, the green leaf pin of Lorien held the cloak together at the nape of my neck. I then opened the large bag that contained my staff, along with my Skyrim Elven blades. The quiver full of arrows I tossed over my shoulder and tightened it so it would not loosen, next I placed my bow between the quiver and my back. Wrapping a leather belt around my waist, I attached my sheath to it, and slipped the dagger Boromir had given me to it. Beside the dagger I slid the staff, tying a thin rope around it to hold it into place. Looking up, I tossed my hood up and over my head.

The sound of something moving reached my ears. Reaching to grab my bow and draw up an arrow, I narrowed my sights as the sound of running grew closer, and closer. I pulled back the string and just as I was about to let go of the arrow out came Frodo, his face was contorted.

Huffing and puffing trying to catch his breath, he managed to speak, "Wha-?"

"I'm traveling with you Frodo," relaxing the taut bow, I motioned for him to get into the canoe, "We must leave now."

I lobbed several small packs into the boat, along with a bigger pack full of food and water canteens. With Frodo climbing into the boat and adjusting the packs, I pushed us off the river's shore and jumped into the canoe, reaching for the paddles. Left, right, left, right, slowly paddling across the Anduin. I stopped a little short of half way across the Anduin when I noticed that Frodo had his fingers wrapped around the ring, his face mangled with grief, full of sorrow.

"I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened," Frodo's large blue eyes watered as he met my gaze.

"Frodo," biting my lip, trying to muster up encouraging words of wisdom for the weary hobbit, "from time to time we are given a task that we see as impossible, that there isn't enough time - that we are not fit for the task. Nothing is beyond our reach. Even the littlest of people can change the course of the future," I smiled at the hobbit whose eyes began to shine.

He sighed, "Let's continue across the river."

As I began to continue our way to the other side of the Anduin, I could hear the faint sound of leaves crunching behind the trees. Out came Sam, tears streaming from his eyes.

"Frodo, no! Frodo! Mr. Frodo!"

Frodo lowered his gaze to the bottom of the canoe, "No Sam. Keep paddling Tari."

"But-" I began when Frodo cut me off.

"Do not stop," Frodo clenched his fists in his lap.

I followed the ring bearer's request and continued towards the eastern shore of the Anduin. Sam's cheeks turned red, tears pouring from his eyes. He began to run towards the canoe and into the river where he began to splash, pushing himself into deeper waters. I jumped up from the canoe, "No, Sam!"

Frodo turned facing the sounds of Sam splashing, "Go back, Sam! I'm going to Mordor with Tari, go home!"

"Of course you are, and I'm coming with you both!" Sam strained to get closer to the canoe, fatigue evident as the hobbit struggled to keep his head above the water

Frodo rose up from the canoe, "You can't swim! Sam!"

Sam's mouth fell beneath the water, slowly being pulled towards the river bottom.

Frodo and I both screamed in unison, "Sam!"

Throwing the oar into the bottom of the canoe and pushing Frodo out of the way, I dove into the river. I thrashed my way further into the river; I could see Sam's eyes open wide, hand reaching for the light shining through the surface of the Anduin. Just as Sam was about to give up, I clutched his arm, pulling him close to my chest and swam towards the surface.

Gasping for air as I surfaced, I carried us to a panicked Frodo whom gripped the edge of the canoe. I lifted Sam towards Frodo, who pulled him in the rest of the way him, before pulling myself into the boat as well.

Water dripped from the ringlets of auburn hair that hung in front of Sam's eyes, tears swelled up again, "I made a promise, Mr. Frodo. A promise" he puffed up his chest a little, "'Don't you leave him Samwise Gamgee' and I don't mean to! I don't mean to."

Frodo's pale blue eyes began to water, "Oh, Sam!" Frodo embraced his friend tightly, before turning to look once more at me, "let's go Tari."

After a moment of gagging on river water, I sat up and began to paddle the boat towards the eastern shore once more.

The boat slid along the rocks as it pulled up the shore. Climbing out of the canoe and helped the two hobbits, I then grabbed our packs and food bag, and tossed them towards the hobbits. "One of the two packs has a blanket in it, Frodo, give it to Sam, please." Frodo opened the first pack and pulled out a sage green blanket and draped it over his shoulders. I lifted my larger pack over my right shoulder, "Frodo, carry the pack that had the blanket in it, and Sam, carry the other please."

I started out ahead of the hobbits, passing the first trees, "go ahead Frodo, Sam," I pointed up towards the top of the hill, "I will follow behind you and we will decide on which road to take to Mordor." I watched as Sam and Frodo made their way up the hillside. I heard a familiar voice drift across the Anduin, turning to look I saw Legolas pushing a boat into the water. He stopped, and then looked up, meeting my eyes. I mouthed the words 'I'm sorry' and turned my back to him, making my way up the hill.

Frodo and Sam stood upon the hilltop, looking off ahead of them. The sky was dark; you could see fire rising from the ground.

"Mordor. I hope the others find a safer route," Frodo turned to face me and I strode up towards them.

"Strider will look after them," Sam still looking off in the distance.

Frodo sighed, "I don't suppose we'll ever see them again."

I looked at Frodo, as did Sam, "We may yet, Mr. Frodo. We may."

Frodo smiled, "Sam, Tari. I'm glad you're with me."

Sam and I both returned the smile, "we must decide which road to take, I suggest we climb down the waterfall," looking down the side of the hilltop, "at the end of that point we will decide where to go from there."

They both nodded in agreement and we began our climb down from the hilltop. As we made our way down the rocks, the falls of Rauros sprayed cool water into my face. I was the first to make it to the bottom of the sharp rocks where the falls water misted, floating off towards the trees. I reached first for Frodo, setting him down onto the ground, then Sam.

I readjusted my pack and motioned for the two hobbits to follow me.

Sam called my name, "Tari, do you think the rest of the fellowship will be okay?"

"I'm positive," a smile played across my face.

_~oooOOOooo~_

It had been about two days since Frodo, Sam, and I had separated from the Fellowship. I had decided that it would be good to get some rest and stop on a spot that was just behind some trees by the river that was a little open.

"I'll be back; I'm going to gather some wood." I set off into the woods, occasionally picking up twigs as I made my way deeper and deeper into the trees. Stopping for a moment, I knelt down to the ground to think, the boat should be making its way down the river now_…I need to tell Sam and Frodo that I will not be following them throw the gates of Mordor and into Mount Doom. _I sighed, making my way back towards camp.

Tossing down some wood in between Sam and Frodo; I bent down, placed the twigs into a teepee like shape.

"Could you start the fire for me Sam, and then grab some of the Lembas bread from the food pack along with the canteens," I handed Sam the flint to start the fire.

_Poof_, a small flame rose from the bottom of the campfire and began to grow. I fidgeted with the necklace on my neck, _I can't feel a pull and for some reason it's not glowing like it did before…I hope everything is okay._

"Are you alright Tari?" I looked up to see a forlorn Frodo staring at me and Sam chewing on some of the Lembas bread.

Releasing the air that I held in my lungs, I began to explain to my companions. "Frodo…Sam…There's something I need to discuss with you," Sam's mouth was half open, Lembas sitting on his tongue, "I will not be accompanying you the rest of the way to Mordor." Sam's jaw dropped, the Lembas loaf falling from his hand; while Frodo's face fell, blue eyes staring at me confusedly.

"Jessica and I believe that you can handle the journey on your own. _Together. _" I stressed the word, meeting Frodo's eyes. "As for myself, I will continue down the river to Gondor. I cannot explain why, know only that my leaving you is to ensure that your quest does not fail." Looking at the two hobbits, obviously overtaken by my words, their eyes wide open and jaws dropped. "I must set off down the river tonight," I got up from the ground and approached the two hobbits whose eyes began to water, "I'm sorry that I must leave you so early, but there is something that I have to do." Bending over, I wrapped my arms around the hobbits, squeezing them.

As Frodo knelt dejectedly down to the fire, I whispered into Sam's ear, "I need to speak with you privately about something." I walked off into the darkened woods, sitting upon a fallen tree to gather my thoughts before Sam joined me. Hopefully Frodo doesn't think I'm abandoning him.

"Ms. Tari," Sam's soft voice pulled me from my thoughts.

"Sam," I sat up from the tree, embracing him for a short moment, the hobbits face resting against my stomach.

"What is it that you wanted to speak to me about Ms. Tari?" His eyes glistened in the moonlight.

"Well, you know of the creature that has been following us since Moria, correct?-" Sam nodded, saying the creature's name. "I want you to know, that I do not trust this creature, but he may yet play a part in this journey to destroy the ring. You have _every right_ to be suspicious of him, do _not_ doubt yourself." Again, Sam nodded, "Please, do not forget what I've told you."

Heading back to the camp, where Frodo laid against the ground asleep, I gathered up my things, placing my weapons in their place on my body, and adjusting my armor and cloak, "Take care of Frodo, Sam, not just for me but for all of Middle-Earth."

Sam nodded, hands fiddling with his Elven cloak. I could see the tears falling from his chin onto his white shirt.

"Oh, Sam," I walked towards Sam, embracing him, "Please…Stay strong; for Frodo. He needs you now more than ever."

Sam's words were muffled by him choking on his own tears, "Oh..ooo..kkkkay."

I held his tiny hand in mine and lifted his chin. Kissing his forehead I spoke, "Namaarie, until we meet again." Letting his hand fall from mine, I began to walk off into the woods, the sound of Sam sobbing fading from my ears with each step.

I walked some distance until I reached the river. Placing my things against a small stump that was close to the flowing stream, I laid down into the dew covered grass. Closing my eyes I began to sing, "Goodbye may seem forever, farewell is like the end. But in my heart's a memory, and there you'll always stay."


	13. Character Info-Q&A

**All right everyone, this is the last post for TAoK&J! This is not a chapter, just a post answering questions and giving you a brief description of the girls - in case there was some confusion. **

**Jessica**

**Age:  
**First thought to be 22 but is actual 84.

**Race:  
**"Dunedain" Traveler

**Hair/Eye Color:  
**Brunette/Light Brown - A mixture of wavy-curly hair, she braids one thick lock on the right side of her head and lets the rest fall loose.

**Height/Body Type:**

5'8"/Athletic-Curvy (A bit more muscular in the arms, shoulders, and back because of bow hunting)

**Tattoos/Piercings:**

Left Ear - Lobe pierced 3 times, cartilage 2 hoop. Right Ear - Lobe pierced 3 times, cartilage 1 hoop. Tongue Piercing. Snake bites.

Wolf Paw tattoos on each wrist. Wolf Paw tattoo with the Kanji for: Fire, Earth, Water, Wind, and Life on left shoulder. Yggdrasil on her left side of ribs, with two ravens on either side. Moon phases spiraling up left leg (each phase was done by a different artist, in a different style). Tiny U.V. star tattoo just below right eye. And, finally, across her chest the phrase 'A wolf is only as strong as the pack" and below that the phrase "For those I love, I will sacrifice".

(Please remember that it is mentioned in the Third Chapter that Jessica has removed her piercings, except for the tongue and ears.)

**Katie/Tari:**

**Age:**

23, but is later found out to be 85

**Race:**

"Half-Elven/Maiar" Traveler

**Hair/Eye Color:  
**Blonde/Blue-Green - With thick beach wavy hair, she tends to hold her locks back in a braid while traveling otherwise she lets her hair hang loose.

**Height/Body Type:  
**5'8"/Athletic-Toned (Played Soccer, Goalie, -or if you're come the U.K. Football- muscular legs and toned arms)

**Tattoos/Piercings:**

Left Ear - lobe pierced 2 times. Cartilage 1 hoop. Right Ear - lobe pierced 2 times. Cartilage 1 industrial. Tongue Piercing. Monroe on the left side.

A rose in full bloom tattoed on her right shoulder. Colored Lotus Flower on the inside of her forearm. Celtic Knot tattooed on her left calf with Vines weaved through it.

(Also note that Katie/Tari does not wear her facial piercings either.)

**~oooOOOooo~**

**Question Time!**

**+"**It was like a fairy tale, the sound of nature, the dew on the grass and leaves, and I, the strange girl dancing between the trees."  
Are you becoming an elf?

- Ha, sorry if this confused some of you but no, Jessica is not becoming an Elf. She has just popped an Ecstasy Pill and she is being "drawn" towards the woods that surround the building her, and her cousins, are partying in. I can see why you would think she is becoming an elf though, now that I have gone back and read through it again.

+"This cannot be, she shouldn't have returned, I thought our spell we cast on her would've kept her protected, but something's brought her back."  
Why had you cast her out?

- I believe this question was answered later on but here is a quick recap! Katie/Tari is Saruman's daughter and with her mother dead, Saruman fell into madness and became evil; so, to protect her, the remaining wizards and several elves sent her away, with Jessica, to our universe. Jessica is similarly sent away, her mother having been convinced by Lord Elrond.

+"I have an idea," I mumbled under my breath, "let's get the eagles to do it for us." Not even the Elves, with their annoyingly sensitive hearing, picked up on the comment.  
Strange... Would Eagles be strong in mind against the Ring? Or could Eagles carry members of the Fellowship?

- I loved this question! I cannot honestly answer it, unfortunately, but I remember asking my dad as a little girl why the Eagles couldn't fly the Fellowship over Mt. Doom. It's kind of...an inside joke, of sorts. If anyone is reading this, can you answer my reviewers question, "Would Eagles be strong in mind against the Ring?" I look forward to your replies.

+ "Katie watched as I turned the iPod on, "it's still working?" I nodded, switching to power save mode. "Yeah, but I think it's broken. The charge symbol is on."  
What charges it?

- The answer behind this is a complex one, kind of, because I have not yet explained to you lovely readers what a Traveler is. You will learn the answer in the next part of the story, though the explanation may deter many of you from reading the story further. -Insert shrug here-.

+ Its a little out of character how Boromir would just slap Jessica & no one would have said or done anything about it. I find that a bit much.

- This wasn't a question, just a review, but I would like to explain why I wrote that Boromir had slapped Jessica after Gandalf had fallen in Moria. Basically it comes down to the fact that: 1) They had just lost their leader and friend, emotions were running high. 2) Jessica's role in the Fellowship was to prevent bad things from happening. So he, along with the others, felt that she had betrayed them. 3) And Boromir was being taken over by the ring; I believe I described his eyes were slate-grey, which I later mention is the color his eyes turn when the Ring is influencing him. Otherwise, his eyes are grey-green.

+"If you start going after Haldir instead of Legolas, how is Legolas going to respond? Especially since Katie kissed him?"

- (From Katie) Well, that is a very good question. I have thought about that for some time now, since I had first wrote Tari's interest in Haldir; I'm still trying to figure out how his initial response is going to be. But you won't find out what his reaction is going to be until later in 'Travelers Tari and Jessica'. Don't worry though, I will have it all figured out soon enough.

+ "HOLY CRAP! who is this Mandos guy that answered Jessica's prayer and saved Boromir's life?"

- Mandos is of the Valar, he is The Judge of the Dead

+ This was also not a question but I had a review saying something about me laying off the drugs.

- I would like to clarify that I do not do drugs in real life, the beginning of this story was something I had "laying" around and I figured that I may as well use it. Well, I guess that would depend on what you classify as drugs because yes, I do smoke hookah (tobacco, not weed) but I have never Rolled even though I do go to Raves. Sorry for the confusion.

**~oooOOOooo~**

**I hope this clears some things up! I enjoyed answering your questions and hope that you will continue to read the upcoming stories. As I said in the last chapter, the next story will be posted under the name "Traveler's Tari and Jessica". Hope ya'll have an awesome day/after/evening (what the heck ever).**

**P.S. -** Kara, I followed your advice and read 'Official Fanfiction Academy of Middle-Earth'. I can honesty say that I have not "lawled" so hard in weeks. To those readers who have not checked this story yet, you definitely should! **  
**


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